Lord Carteret, a political biography, 1690-1763

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Lord Carteret

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LOED CAETEEET

TEIXTED BY

SPOTTISWOODE A^D CO., KE-U'-STREET SQaARE

LONDON

LOED CAETEEET

,1 POLITICAL BIOGRAPHY

1690— 1763

BY

ARCHIBA.LD BALLANTYNE

LONDON

ETCHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET

jpubHsbcrs ii> ©rbiiinrn to |5tt gtajtstu tbt c^iiEcn
1887

CORNELL

UMIVERSITYj

LiBRAR\^

' Higli above each in genius, lore, and fire,
"With mind of muscles whicli no toil could tire.
With lips that seem'd like Homer's gods to quaff
From nectar-urns the unextinguish'd laugh,
Frank with the mirth of souls divinely strong,
Cakteeet's large presence floats from out the throng.'

Lord Lytton : St. Stephen's,

PEEFACE

The almost complete oblivion -\vliicli covers the career
of Lord Carteret is one of the curiosities of English
political and historical literature. Few names were
better known than his in the political world of his own
day ; no English statesman of his time had so wide a
European reputation. Posterity has exacted an ex-
aggerated revenge ; for no first-rate statesman of the
modern epoch has failed so completely to secure a
place in its capricious memory. One still vaguely
recollects that Dr. Johnson disliked the word Carteret
Avlien used as a dactyl ; one remembers a few para-
graphs of Macaulay's characteristic rhetoric, or two
or three of Horace Walpole's femininely exaggerated
anecdotes. But Carteret himself and his fifty years of
pubhc life <nre practical!}' forgotten. With one excep-
tion, the modern historians of the times in which he
li\'ed have not cared to make more than mere passing
and second-hand allusion to him ; and the one excep-
tion — Carlyle in his Frederick the Great — is concerned
with only two or three years and one or two incidents
of Carteret's career. The other writers, when Carteret
comes in the wav nf their historical narrative, either

viii PREFACE

dismiss liim in a few lines of conventionally balanced
epithets, or sketch a figure so full of distortions and
contradictions as to be a mere fantastic impossibility.

It is exceedingly easy to forget many of the men
who played a political part in England under the first
two Georges. Wilmington, who was actually Prime
Minister for a year or so, is now not even the shadow
of a name. No one wilUngly would remember Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer Sandys, or Bubb Dodington, or
Sir Thomas Eobinson. Henry Pelham was a respectable
but uninteresting mediocrity. To his brother the Duke
of Newcastle an amused posterity has indeed almost
gratefully granted a unique fame as the most curiously
ridiculous being who ever took a leading part in public
affairs, the most foolish as well as the falsest of pohticians,
the most imbecile even of political Dukes. But it seems
a pity that Carteret's name should be added to this
dreary and uninviting list of extinct reputations. For
Carteret was the most brilliant man of afTah's of his
time, equally conspicuous for bright genius and for
homely, practical common-sense. He was an accom-
plished classical scholar ; an easy master of European
languages ; completely at home in history, law, litera-
ture ; the friend of Berkeley, Bentley, Addison, Gay,
Pope ; the chosen personal though not political friend
of Swift ; a generous, competent patron of men of
letters ; full of frankness and ease and good-nature, so
that even his political enemies could not hate him ; yet
always dignified and refined and commanding. ' I feel
a pride,' the Earl of Chatham once said in the House of
Lords, long after Carteret was dead, ' in declaring that

P BE FACE ix

to his patronage, to his friendship and instruction I owe
whatever I am.' Horace Walpole reckoned that in all
his life he had seen only five great men, and that the
greatest genius of the five was Carteret. Chesterfield
was by no means inclined to an indulgent estimate of
Carteret ; yet in the last days of Carteret's life Chester-
field Avrote to his son : ' Lord Granville [Carteret] they
say is dying. When he dies, the ablest head in England
dies too, take it for all in all.' ' Since Granville Avas
turned out,' wrote Svaollett in Ilunij/hrey Clinker, ' there
has been no minister in this nation Avortli the meal that
whitened his periwig.' To Dr. Johnson doubtless Car-
teret was one of those vile Whigs of Avhoni the Devil
was the first ; yet Johnson's recognitions of Carteret are
generous enough ; while Swift, also removed from Car-
teret in political opinion, was his intimate personal
friend, and repeatedly expresses his admiration for his
character, learning, and genius. Among later A\'riters,
Carlyle, though always very reserved in his estimates of
eighteenth-century men, is quite unstinted in his appre-
ciation of Carteret. He groups him among the Freder-
icks, the Yoltaires, the Chathams, as one of the not too
numerous men of his time in Avhom there was ' an
effective stroke of work, a fine fire of heroic pride ; '
and in the impersonal way in which he reveals his own
opinions, Carlyle speaks of Carteret as ' thought by some
to be, with the one exception of Lord Chatham, the
wisest Foreign Secretary we ever had.' Yet the states-
man who is thus praised by men who do not praise
lightly is now unremembered ; the very books of re-
ference are in a conspiracy of silence about him ; and

X PBEFA-CE

the present is the lirst attempt whicli lias been made
to give any complete ami connected account of his
career.

It therefore seems desirable to make some sli^L^it
reference to tlie ('hief printed and manuscript authori-
ties on whicli the following pages are mainly based. To
draw up a list which shoidd include the many epheme-
ral and obsolete productions which have been consulted
would be absurd. Of special value are the Works of
Horace Walpole, particularly his Correspondence and
his Last Ten Years of the Eeign of George II. ; but
Horace Walpole, especially when he is dealing with
personal questions, must always be used with care. In
the Works of Swift, Carteret's intimate friend, there are
.some few letters from and to Carteret; but most of the
correspondence between the two men must be either
imprinted or lost. Carteret is, however, the subject of
one of Swift's ironically humorous jjamphlets. Arch-
deacon Coxe's voluminous and chaotic Memoirs of Sir
Pujbert Walpole and of the Pelhams are absolutely
valueless from the literary point of view ; but tliey are
essential to a kncjwledge (jf Carteret's time because of
the original material to wliich Coxe had access. The
same distressing writer's Memoirs of Sir Eobert's less-
known brother Horatio {old Horace as he is generally
called, to distinguish him from his nephew Horace
the letter- writer) have some sUght concern with Carteret
and his fortunes. Lord Shelburne's Autobiography (in
Loi'd Edniond Fitzmaurice's Life of Shelburne) contains
some curious and interesting particulars ; and Loid
Ilervey's Memoirs of the lieign of Geurue II. are of

PREFA CE xi

course indispensable, though Hervey can seldom spare a
good W(ird for any opponent of Walpole. Earl Walde-
grave's Memoirs, the Earl of Marchmont's Diary, and
the Marchmont Papers are also useful. And fur-
ther may be mentioned : The Parliamentary History ;
the Works of Chesterfield ; Sir E. J. Phillimore's Memoirs
of Lord Lyttelton ; Harris's Life of Lord Chancellor
Hardwicke ; J. M. Graham's Annals and Correspondence
of tlie Earls of Stair ; Sheridan's Life of Swift ; the
Letters of the Irish Primate, Hugh Boulter; and Mrs.
Delany's Autobiography and Correspondence.

Of unpublished materials, the Carteret Papers in
the British Museum are essential for a real knowledg;e
of Carteret's political life. These Papers consist of
thirty-four volumes, and are numbered Additional MSS.
22, 511-22, ■545. They contain Carteret's official corre-
spondence during the various periods for -which he held
office between 1719 and 1744. The}- are full on all
points of his public policy, but have hardly any private
or personal details. The voluminous set of manuscripts
known as Coxe's Collections offers a good deal of Avel-
come assistance, and is specially useful for part of
the time during which Carteret was Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland. The Manuscripts at the Piecord Office supply
some of the defects of the British Museum Collections
for this special period. Scattered letters from and to
Carteret, and letters containing facts and criticisms con-
cerning him, are to be found in almost countless volumes
of the Museum's Additional and Egerton Manuscripts.
Eeferences to the more important of these are given in
their places ; it is impossible to specify them all.

xii PREFACE

It only remains to add that the chief object of the
present biograpliy is not to throw any fresh hght on the
general history of the times in which Carteret lived,
but, so far as it is possible now to do so, to recover
from a really undeserved forgetfulness some idea of
Carteret himself, and of a character and a career which
only a few names in modern English politics exceed in
interest and in varied attractiveness.

A. B.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER

I. EARLY LIFE AND WORK tN PAELtAMEST (1090- 171C) .

II. DIPLOMACY (1717-1719) ......

III. SECBBTAEY OF STATE (1721-1724) . . . .

IV. LORD-LIEUTENANT OF lEELAND (1724-1730)

V. OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE : HOME AFFAIRS (1730-1737)

VI. OPPOSITION TO Vi'Ar.POLE : FOREIGN AFFAIRS (l7i3-

1742)

VII. POWER (1742-1744)

VIII. GRANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS (1744-1754)

IX. LAST YEARS (1754-1763) ....

X. PRIVATE LIFE ; PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

PAGE
1

65
103
140

190
238

807

SCO
415

LOED CAETEKET.

CHAPTEE I.

EARLY LIFE AND WORK IN PARLIAMENT.
1690-1716.

John, Lord Carteret, Earl Granville, was descended
from two noble and ancient families, each of which had
on various occasions risen to hicfh distinction in the
political history of England. The Carterets and the
Granvilles were both Norman houses ; the towns of
Granville and Carteret still commemorate their names
in Normandy. The Carterets, some of them accom-
panying their Norman duke into England, and all of
them, in the troubled times that followed, remaining
faithful to the newly established line of kings in Eng-
land, gradually lost their Norman possessions on the
mainland, and settled chiefly in the largest of the
Channel Islands, almost within sight of their old home.
They became the commanding family in Jersey, where
part of their principal seat, the manor house of St.
Ouen, may still be seen ; and many romantic as well as
historical tales are told of their life and exploits there.
Romance, perhaps, has played its accustomed part in
giving picturesque embeUishment to some of the family
annals. But the unadorned facts of the Carterets'

B

2 LORD CABTEBET

actual history have nothing prosaic about them, iheir
loyalty was very conspicuous. George m. was not
using the language of exaggerated comphment when he
once said of a member of the Carteret house : ' This
young man belongs to one of the most ancient and
most loyal families in my dominions.' The never-falsi-
fied motto of the Carterets was Loyal devoir. They
kept Jersey out of the hands of Constable Bertrand du
Guesclin ; and eight Carterets, Eeginald de Carteret
and his seven sons, were knighted in one day by
Edward III. for this feat. Over and over again they
foiled French attempts on the Channel Islands, and
received many royal recognitions of their bravery and
loyalty. Queen Elizabeth gave them the island of
Sark, and the practical governorship of Jersey wa^
frequently in their family. One of them was governor
there when Prynne, who had attacked plays and
masques in his puritanical Eistrio-niastLC, was im-
prisoned from 1637 to 1640 in Mont Orgueil Castle,
one of the two chief fortresses of Jersey. A terribly
gloomy cell in Mont Orgueil is stiU shown as the apart-
ment in wliich Prynne was confined ; but the dreariness
of his imprisonment was considerably lessened by the
kindness of Sir Philip Carteret and his family, whom
Prynne is never weary of thanking ' for all your love
and courtesy.' They often invited him to pass his time
Avith them, and it seeme that Lady Carteret's irresistible
goodness occasionally seduced the stern pamphleteer to
an unpuritanical game of cards. Prynne Avrote, in a
distressingly unpuetical manner, a metrical description
of the very picturesque fortress where his confinement
was tluis pleasantly tempered, and dedicated his won-
derful rliymes to his ' ever honoured worthy friend Sir
Philip Carteret,' and to Sir PhUip's wife, Prynne's ' most

EABLY LIFE AND WORK IN PABLIAMENT 8

highly honoured, special kind friend, the truly virtuous
and religious Lady Anne Carteret.' Others of Prynne's
astonishing metrical productions were dedicated to the
daughters of his kindly custodians ; one of them to

Sweet mistress Douce, fair Margaret,
Prime flower of the house of Carteret.

General history, however, has dropped from its
memory the story of the career of the Carterets in the
Channel Islands ; and the very faint surviving recollec-
tion even of the name of the family is mainly due to
two such very dissimilar books as Pepys' Diary and
Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. Lr these two
books the name of a Sir George Carteret is of very
frequent recurrence. This Sir George Carteret, almost
more royalist than the King, was prominently connected
with the two unhappy Charleses who were successive
Stuart sovereigns of England. When the civil war
broke out, the parliament desired to give to Cartei'et,
who was controller of the navy, the position of vice-
admiral. He thought it his duty first to ask the King's
consent, and Charles, who reckoned his fleet as good as
lost to him, ordered Carteret to decline. A mistake on
the King's part, thought Clarendon and many others ;
for, if Carteret had been permitted to accept the
appointment, it was commonly believed that he Avould
have kept the greater part of the fleet true to the Kin"-,
— ' his interest and reputation in the navy was so great,
and his dihgence and dexterity in command so emi-
nent.'^ Carteret retired to his Jersey home to raise
forces for his master ; and his energetic proceedings
there and in the Channel so exasperated the parha-
mentary authorities that in all the fruitless peace

' ClareudoBS Hift. of the Rebellion, III. 116. Ed, Oxford, ISiO.

B ::

2 LOBD CABTEBET

actual history have nothing prosaic about them. Their
loyalty was very conspicuous. George III. Tvas not
using the language of exaggerated compHment when he
once said of a member of the Carteret house : ' This
young man belongs to one of the most ancient and
most loyal families in my dominions.' The never-falsi-
fied motto of the Carterets was Loyal devoir. They
kept Jersey out of the hands of Constable Bertrand du
Guesclin ; and eight Carterets, Eeginald de Carteret
and his seven sons, were knighted in one day by
Edward III. for this feat. Over and over again they
foiled French attempts on the Channel Islands, and
received many royal recognitions of their bravery and
loyalty. Queen Elizabeth gave them the island of
Sark, and the practical governorship of Jersey was
frequently in their family. One of them was governor
there when Prynne, who had attacked plays and
masques in his puritanical Histrio-rnastix, was im-
prisoned from 1637 to 1640 in Mont Orgueil Castle,
one of the two chief fortresses of Jersey. A terriblv
gloomy cell in llont Orgueil is still shown as the apai't-
ment in which Prynne was confined ; but the dreariness
of his imprisonment was considerably lessened by the
kindness of Sir Philip Carteret and his family, whom
Prynne is never weary of thanking ■ for all your love
and courtesy.' They often invited him to pass Ids time
with them, and it seeme that Lady Carteret's irresistible
goodness occasionally seduced the stern pamphleteer to
an unpuritanical game of cards. Prynne wrote, in a
distressingly unpoetical manner, a metrical description
of the very picturesque fortress where his confinement
was thus pleasantly tempered, and dedicated his won-
derful rhymes to liis ' ever honoured worthy friend, Sir
Phihp Carteret,' and to Sir PhiHp's wife, Prynne's ■ iiiost

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLIAMENT 8

highly honoured, special kind friend, the truly virtuous
and religious Lady Anne Carteret.' Others of Prynne's
astonishing metrical productions were dedicated to the
daughters of his kindly custodians ; one of them to

Sweet mistress Douce, fair IMargaret,
Prime flower of the house of Cai'teret.

General history, however, has dropped from its
memory the story of the career of the Carterets in the
Channel Islands ; and the very faint surviving recollec-
tion even of the name of the family is mainly due to
two such very dissimilar books as Pepys' Diary and
Lord Clarendon's History of the Rebellion. In these two
books the name of a Sir George Carteret is of very
frequent recurrence. This Sir George Carteret, almost
more royalist than the King, was prominently connected
with the two unhappy Cliarleses who were successive
Stuart sovereigns of England. When the civil war
broke out, the parliament desired to give to Carteret,
who was controller of the navy, the position of vice-
admiral. He thought it his duty first to ask the King's
consent, and Charles, who reckoned his fleet as good as
lost to him, ordered Carteret to decline. A mistake on
the King's part, thought Clarendon and many others ;
for, if Carteret had been permitted to accept the
appointment, it was commonly believed that he would
have kept the greater part of the fleet true to the King,
— ' his interest and reputation in the navy was so great,
and his dihgence and dexterity in command so emi-
nent.' ^ Carteret retired to his Jersey home to raise
forces for his master ; and his energetic proceedings
there and in the Channel so exasperated the parha-
mentary authorities that in all the fruitless peace

' Clarendou's Hist, of the Rebellion, III. IIC, Ed, Oxford, 182G.

B .■!

4 LOBD GABTEBET

negotiations Carteret's name was in the list of tliose
for whom there could be no pardon. When in April
1646 the boy Prince of Wales, insecure even in the
Scilly Islands, wandered as far as Jersey for safety,
Sir George Carteret gladly entertained him in EUzabeth
Castle, where Charles, hardly yet sixteen years old, held
levees and dined in state, proving himself already a
proficient in the art of obtaining popularity ; for, says
the old Jersey chronicler, cetoit un prince grandement
benin. Sir George Carteret got him a pleasure-boat
from St. Malo, and the Prince spent hours in steering
about the island-bays, but never venturing beyond
range of the Castle guns. He stayed more than two
months in Elizabeth Castle, and before taking leave of
his host created him a baronet ; having already per-
sonally confirmed the knighthood which Charles I. had
only been able to bestow on Carteret by patent. Some
of the Prince's exceedingly numerous retinue remained
behind in Jersey when Charles himself left to go to his
mother in Paris ; among these being the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, Edward Hyde, who stayed in the island
for two years longer. While Charles had been living
in the fortress with Sir George Carteret, Hyde's quarters
had been in the town of St. Helier's, from which at
high water Elizabeth Castle was entirely cut off. In
the evenings, when the tide was low, Hyde and the two
or three English friends who were with him walked
regularly upon the sands instead of supping, and often
found their way to the Castle and Sir George Carteret,
Avho received them always with unbounded kindness.
When the departure of his fi'iends left the Chancellor
somewhat sohtary. Sir George Carteret invited Hyde to
leave the town altogether, and come to him in EHzabeth
Castle. Hyde gladly agreed, and stayed in the Castle

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLIAMENT 5

for tA¥0 years ; quietly busy, seldom for less than ten
hours in the day, with his books and his history ;
amusing himself in spare moments with the cultivation
of a minute garden of his own creation, and enjoying,
as he himself used to say, the greatest tranquillity of
mind imaginable. In his own words, he ' remained
there, to his wonderful contentment, in the very cheer-
ful society of Sir George Carteret and his lady, in whose
house he received all the liberty and entertainment he
could have expected from his own family ; of which he
always entertained so just a memory, that there was
never any intermission or decay of that friendship he
then made.' ^

When Charles I. was executed, Sir George Carteret
at once proclaimed King Charles II. in the Channel
Islands, and the new nominal King, greatly perplexed
where to find a safe refuge, remembered Carteret and
his former quiet security in Jersey. Accompanied
this time by his brother, the Duke of York, Charles
once more arrived in the island in September 1649 ;
and in that same year made to Carteret one of his too
facile promises, though in this instance his word was
very fairly kept. He wrote to Carteret : —

' I will add this to you under my own hand, that I
can never forget the good services you have done to my
father and to me, and if God bless me \jvliich He did
not] you shall find I do remember them to the advan-
tage of jou and yours ; and for this you have the word
of your very loving friend,

' Chaeles E.' ^

This six months' residence with Carteret in Jersey

1 Clarendon's Life, I. 207-208. Ed. Oxford, 1857.

2 Brit. Museum, Add. MSS. 27,402 : fol. 124.

6 LOBD GABTEBET

seems to have been one of the pleasanter episodes of
Charles's futile existence. Carteret managed affairs,
while the prince-king devoted himself to amusements.
He yachted round about the island, rambled with dogs
and guns after wild fowl, enjoying such quiet hospitality
as the families of the island could offer, and making
himself very popular among the people by his easy affa-
bility. Banquets and other entertainments were fre-
quent at Elizabeth Castle, and Charles spent his time in
busy idleness, solaced by the talk and ways of his French
dwarf, and encouraging that mischievous little jester in
the congenial performance of practical jokes. The only
royal duty which the islanders exacted from their King
was to touch them for the king's evil. Before leaving
in February 16-50, to start on his ten years' wanderings,
Charles made Sir George Carteret treasurer of his navy ;
a rather barren honour at that time, for such navy as
Charles had consisted mainly of the fleet of privateers
which Carteret himself had got together. But ten
years later this distinction, and many others, became
real enough for Carteret.

If his royal navy was rather phantasmal to Charles,
Carteret's frigates Avere exceedingly real to Cromwell.
The Frotector now interfered in earnest, resolved to end
these spirited royalist proceedings in the Channel
Islands. In the closing months of 1651 a parliamentary
army Avas landed in Jersey, and one by one the island
fortresses were compelled to yield. Still Sir George
Carteret was undaunted and shut himself up in Eliza-
betli Castle witli a garrison of 340 men. He hoped that
of all the royal strongholds in the kingdom Elizabeth
Castle might be the last to surrender to the Farluiment.
For three months he was besieged, the enemy makino-
little or no impression upon him, till they' brouglit

EARLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PARLIAMENT 7

artillery far more powerful than anything that had yet
been seen there, and from a neighbouring height poured
down into the castle what Clarendon calls ' granadoes of
a vast bigness/ and forced Carteret to submit. His
httle garrison surrendered in December 1651, but his
ambition had been realised. He and his men were
allowed honourable departure, and Carteret set out on
European travels, to find his way at last to his roaming
King in Holland.

The Eestoration ended the wanderings of these two,
and established Carteret's fortunes. He rode into
London on Eestoration Day with the King, and honours
and official appointments were abundantly awarded him.
Politically the most important of the various posts
which he held was the Treasurership of the Navy ;
and thus Pepys, a young subordinate at the Admiralty,
was brought into very frequent intercourse with Carteret
and received much personal kindness from him. Many
pleasant allusions to the Carteret family occur in the
garrulous gossiping of the Diary. Sir George and
his wife, who also was his cousin and a Carteret, were
both very good to the j^oung Clerk of the Acts ; and
Pepys was not ungrateful, while he also was shrewd
enough to put a high value on so desirable a
friendship. ' I find,' Pepys writes of Sir George
Carteret, ' that he do single me out to join with
me apart from the rest, which I am much glad of
Lady Carteret, thought Pepys, was ' the most kind lady
in the world,' and her daughters' friendly cheerfulness
often dehghted him and made him ' mighty merry.'
Enthusiastic Pepys was really sorry when at times his
most kind lady in the world looked around her with a
somewhat dejected anxiety, ' and I do comfort her as
much as I can, for she is a noble ladv.' But things

8 LOBD CABTEBET

were generally bright in that household, and Pepys
enjoyed its unstinted hospitality. The conversation
current in the house of one who, like Sir George
Carteret, after very varied experience of men and
manners, was now in the centre of Enghsh political hfe,
Avas also much to Pepys' taste ; and perhaps the Carte-
rets themselves at times found a passing amusement in
slightly mystifying the innocent creduhty of their fre-
quent guest. But this was rare, and Pepys heartily
congratulated himself on what he thought the really
extraordinary goodwill and kindness with which the
influential family treated him. ' Most extraordinary
people they are,' he wrote, ' to continue friendship
with, for goodness, virtue, and nobleness, and interest.'
Pepys too introduces the next in the family line,
Sir George Carteret's eldest son, Philip ; but is only
particular over one episode in his career. This Sir
Philip Carteret had, like his father, fought bravely in
the Civil War, and had been knighted by Charles IE.
in Jersey. With all that Pepys had nothing to do ;
but when Sir Phihp came to be married to the
daughter of the Earl of Sandwich, the busthng import-
ance of the diarist was quite in its element. To Sir
Phihp Carteret the necessary prehminaries of marriage
were a much more difficult business than fightinij-, and
he was glad to have Pepys to advise and instruc't him
in the usual formalities. Pepys found him a very
modest man, ' of mighty good nature and i:)retty under-
standing ; ' but he was far readier to give Pepys an
account of the sea fights with the Dutch than to be con-
versationally enthusiastic over his omi private prospects.
But if Sir Phihp was somewhat backward, the other
members of the two famihes chiefly concerned were
xtremely interested in the affair. Lady Carteret could

e

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLLUIENT 9

not do enough for Lady Jemima Montagu. ' But Lord ! '
says Pepys, with his usual exclamation, ' to see how
kind my Lady Carteret is to her! Sends her most
rich jewels, and provides bedding and things of all
sorts most richly for her ; which makes my Lady
[Sandwich] and me out of our wits almost to see the
kindness she treats us all with, as if they would buy the
young lady.' Pepys accompanied Sir Phihp Carteret
on his first formal visit to Lady Jemima, and was
considerably surprised by his friend's unromantic pro-
ceedings. ' But Lord ! what silly discourse we had as
to love-matters, he being the most awkward man ever
I met with in my life as to that business ! ' Neither
before nor after supper had the gentleman a word for
the lady, whom indeed he afterwards told Pepys that he
liked mightily ; ' but Lord ! in the dullest insipid man-
ner that ever lover did.' The second day of their visit
Avas a Sunday, and Sir Philip was to take Lady Jemima
to church. Pepys Avas minute in his previous instruc-
tions ; told Sir Philip what compliments he Avas to paj'',
how he was to lead the lady by the hand, and generally
make the best use of his happy opportunities. Still the
terribly timid wooer was not very successful ; but did
better in the afternoon, when the company considerately
left the two by themselves, ' and a little pretty daugliter
of my Lady AVright's most innocently came out after-
wards, and shut the door to. as if she had done it, poor
child, by inspiration : which made us without have
good sport to laugh at.' Before the two days' visit was
over, Pepys, who was himself distantly connected with
the Sandwich family, took Lady Jemima apart, and tried
to discover her feelings. ' She blushed, and hid her face
awhile ; but at last I forced her to tell me. She an-
swered that she could readily obey what her father and

10 LOBD CABTEBET

mother had done ; which was all she could say, or I
expect. So anon took leave, and for London. In our
way Mr. Carteret did give me mighty thanks for my
care and pains for him, and is mightily pleased.' Thus
with the minimum of demonstration, at least before third
parties, Sir Philip Carteret got a wife, who also seems to
have been of a pleasant gravity by nature ; and the
sober and refined merriment of their wedding entertain-
ment struck Pepys, who was present in his finest clothes,
as the most delightful thing in the world.

Sir Phihp Carteret's career was honourably cut short.
Fighting against the Dutch in Southwold Bay in 1 672,
he was drowned, along with his father-in-law. He
might, like many others, have left the ship ; but he
refused to desert the Earl of Sandwich. Of the short
life of his eldest son, almost nothing can be told. He
was born in 1667, and when only fifteen years old
was made a peer, with the style of Baron Carteret of
Hawnes, in Bedfordshire. Charles had intended a
similar honour for Sir George Carteret, but death had
interfered ; and now this early peerage was granted to
Sir Philip's son as some acknowledgment of the dis-
tinguished services of his father and his grandfather.
But George, this first Lord Carteret, did not live long
enough to take any part in pubhc affairs or to associate
his name with history. He died at the age of twenty-
six, having by his marriage united his family with that
of the Granvilles, and leaving behind him an eldest son,
John, the famous English statesman of the eighteenth
century.

The Granvilles, like the Carterets, were an ancient
Norman family, and traced their origin, in unbroken
line of honourable descent, back to Duke EoUo of Nor-
mandy. Like the Carterets, also, the Granvilles had

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PARLIAMENT 11

been conspicuous for bravery and patriotism, and had
written their names on many pages of Enghsh history.
One of the heroes of their house was the famous Sir
Eichard Grenville, whose single-handed battle in the
little Revenge against a Spanish fleet of fifty-three vessels
was the most wonderful fighting exploit of the Eliza-
bethan seamen. 'At Flores, in the Azores,' with a little
squadron of only six or seven ships, Lord Thomas Howard
and Sir Eichard Grenville found that the Spanish fleet
was close upon them. Howard, unable to fight, put to
sea. Grenville, who had many of his Devonshire men
sick on shore, waited to take them on board, and so was
left alone, separated from the rest of the small squadron.
The Spaniards soon surrounded him. From three
o'clock in the afternoon of the last day of August,
1-391, till next day's dawn, he fifteen times repulsed the
whole Spanish fleet : —

And the sun went down, and the stars came out far over the
summer sea,

But never a moment ceased the fight of the one and the fifty-
three.

Ship after ship, the whole night long, their high-built galleons
came.

Ship after ship, the whole night long, with her battle thunder
and flame ;

Ship after ship, the whole night long, drew back with her dead
and her shame.

For some were sunk and many were shatter'd, and so could
figlit us no more

God of battles, was ever a battle like this in the world before ? '

Grenville fought on, covered with wounds, till the httle
lieveiKje was a helpless rolling hulk. Eather than yield
to Spain, he wished to send himself, men, and ship to

' Tennyson : The lin-enr/e.

12 LOBD CABTEBET

the bottom; but the crew would not, and the one
English ship struck to the Spanish fifty-three. Gren-
ville died on board the Spanish fleet three days after
his wonderful fight ; and his dying words are his best
memorial: 'Here die I, Eichard Grenville, with a joy-
ful and quiet mind ; for that I have ended my life as a
true soldier ought to do, fighting for his country, queen,
religion and honour : my soul wiUingly departing from
this body, leaving behind the lasting fame of having
behaved as every vahant soldier is in duty bound
to do.'

Grandson of this far-famed Sir Eichard was the
almost equally renowned Sir Bevil Granville, whose
death in the battle of Lansdowne deprived the Eoyalists
of all rejoicing in their victory. Where, asked exag-
gerative eulogy on the death of Sir Bevil —

Where shall the next famed Granville's ashes stand ?
Thy grandsire's fill the sea, and thine the land.

Like all his family. Sir Bevil Granville was a devoted
royalist; and, had he lived, he would have enjoyed
such honours as his King could have given him. A
letter of thanks from Charles I. was in Granville's
pocket when he fell, and with it the patent whicli ap-
pointed him Earl of Bath. The honour passed to Sir
Bevil's son, who indeed was loaded with dignities ; being
by birth Sir John Granville, and by position in the
peerage the first Earl of Bath, Viscount Lansdowne, and
Baron Granville. If it had been possible, this Sir John
Granville would have excelled his father in devotion to
the cause of the Stuarts. He was commanding in the
Scilly Islands when he heard of the execution of the
King. With passionate indignation he immediately
proclaimed King Charles II., as Sir George Carteret did

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLIAMENT 13

in Jersey. He could not find words hard enough for
Cromwell and the regicides. He wrote violently from
Scilly when he heard the astonishing news : —

' The extraordinary ill news I have heard since my
being here concerning the horrid murder and treason
committed on the person of his most sacred majesty
has transported me with grief ... I hope God will
revenge it on the heads of the damned authors and con-
trivers of it. . . .As soon as I was assured of this sad
truth, and had solemnly paid here our abundant griefs
in infinite tears, having commanded throughout these
islands a day of mourning and humihation for our most
fatal and incomparable loss, I thought it my particular
duty to proclaim his majesty that now is King.' ^

In the negotiations which changed Charles H.'s
titular majesty into as real a one as so merely titular a
being as Charles could ever make it. Sir John Granville
had a prominent part. Through all the details of the
Eestoration he was deep in the confidence of Charles and
General Monk. He brought from Breda the royal letter
of easy promises, easy to make and easy to forget ; and
he received the public thanks of the House of Commons
on what naturally, but too deceptively, seemed the
happiest May-day that England had lately seen. He
obtained the peerage which death had denied to his
father, and his sisters were allowed to rank as Earl's
daughters. Erom children of his there are still liv-
ing many highly distinguished descendants ; and his
youngest daughter, Grace, was mother of John Lord
Carteret.

George, first Lord Carteret, husband of Grace Gran-
ville, died at an early age in 1695. Their son John was
born on April 22, 1G90 ; and he thus succeeded to the

1 Brit. Mus. Egerton MSS. 2,533 ; fnl. 474, v°.

U LORD CABTEBET

barony of Carteret when less than five years old. His school
life was passed at Westminster, a far more famous estab-
Hshment then than in more recent times. Many of the
most distinguished Englishmen of the eighteenth century
had their earUest education at "Westminster. The school
was especially prohfic in bishops and statesmen. Sprat,
bishop of Eochester, used to thank God that he was a
bishop, though he had not been educated at Westminster.
Many of those who in later life were closely connected
with Carteret's poUtical fortunes had been boys at the
same school as himself. Pulteney, who afterwards led
in the House of Commons the great opposition to Wal-
pole, of which in the House of Lords Carteret was him-
self the head ; the Duke of Newcastle, as false as he was
foolish, whose treachery and imbecihty were equally
disturbing factors in Carteret's political career ; MuiTay,
more famous as Lord Mansfield ; Hervey, famous or in-
famous as ' Sporus ' ; Prior and Atterbury, who touched
Carteret's life more lightly than these others, were all
Westminster boys. ' Pray, don't you think Westminster
School to be the best school in England ? ' bookseller
Lintot once asked Pope in 1714. 'Most of the late
Ministry came out of it ; so did many of this Ministry.'
Bentley, who was to be Carteret's intimate friend, became
Master of Trinity when Carteret was ten years old ; and
Bentley says that in the earher years of his mastership
the Westminster scholars gained the greater mimber of
the fellowships. In Carteret's school-days the head
master was Thomas Knipe ; the second master, Avho soon
himself became the head, was the better known Dr.
Robert Friend, celebrated chiefly for his skill in classical
verse. His Sapphics, written on Carteret's youno-er
brother, a Westminster scholar who died when only
nineteen, were reckoned the most favourable specimen

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLIAMENT 15

of his workmanship in elegant trifling, and have been
approved by later authorities.

The connection of Westminster was specially close
with Christ Church and with Trinity College, Cambridge.
Carteret went to Christ Church. Ko details of his
university life are recoverable ; but it is possible dimly
to trace his friendship at ' the House ' with Lord Hatton
and with Edward Harley, only son of Queen Anne's
statesman. Carteret was at Oxford in 1709, the year
of the terrible Malplaquet battle ; and it was perhaps in
the long vacation of that or the following year, when
Anne dismissed the Whigs, and when Eobert Harley and
St. John became rival colleagues in power, that he wrote
from Longleat ' to Mr. Harley at Christ Church in
Oxford ' :—

' I now write at a venture, for I am not sure this
will find you. I can never think that you are got
privately again to Christ Church whilst the affairs of
state are in such agitation ; and if you are not, I won't
advise you to go. I rather could wish that as you
imitate Apollo in some things, you would also imitate
his tree : — •

Paniassia laurus
Purra sub ingenti matris se svhjicit umbra.

I need put no comment to enable you to decypher my
meaning. You'll pardon my making use of so rural an
image. Sometimes one may compare great thino-s to
little without diminution.'^

There are no details of Carteret's Oxford life ; but

' Hai'leian MSS. 7,523 ; fol. 173. The only date is August 16. This
letter is printed in the Gentleman's Mayazine for 1779, p. 283, and the date
1702 is there added. This is impossible; for in 1732 'Mr. Harley' had for
eight years heen Earl of Oxford. He had become Lord Harley in 1711
and the letter must have been -written before that. The right date is pro-
bably August 16, 1710 ; the year and month of the change of government.

16 LOBD GABTEBET

he evidently did not make liis residence the sinecure
which his patrician position would have allowed and
even encouraged. A nobleman at an English university
in the eighteenth century could practically do what he
hked, and many liked to do nothing. But Carteret
must have worked hard. When he was Lord-Lieutenant
of Lreland, his friend Swift, in a humorous vindication
of Carteret's political conduct, wrote of him that from
Oxford, ' with a singularity scarce to be justified, he
carried away more Greek, Latin, and philosophy, than
properly became a person of his rank ; indeed much
more of each than most of those who are forced to Uve
by their learning will be at the unnecessary pains to
load their heads with.'^ In a letter to Carteret himself,
recommending Berkeley, who was about to publish a
little tract containing his whole scheme of a Hfe ' aca-
demico-philosophical,' Swift adds in a parenthesis after
these two words : ' I shall make you remember what
you were.' No political enemy or anonymous libeller
ever ventured to dispute Carteret's learning ; and the
foundation of his lasting delight in the poetry, oratory,
and philosophy of the great classical authors was firmly
laid at Oxford.

From Oxford Carteret seems to have come at once
to London, and to have been received in the very best
circles which London in Oueen Anne's days could ofier.
With Swift, then in London on church business from
Ireland, Carteret commenced an intimate and hfe-loug
friendship. Swift himself gives one or two ghmpses of
this early period of Carteret's London hfe. Gravelv
continuing his ironical vindication, S\vift has to admit
that Carteret, on his first a]:)pearavice in the great world
split upon the rock of learmug. ' For, as soon as he

' Swifts Wwks, VII, 284.

EABLY LIFE AND WORK IN PABLIAMENT 17

came to town, some bishops and clergymen, and other
persons most eminent for learning and parts, got him
among them.' From these distinguished friends, how-
ever, and from London itself, Carteret vanished for a
little time ; for, young as he was, he at once settled down
in life, marrying at Longleat on October 17, 1710, Lady
Frances Worsley, granddaughter of the first Viscount
Weymouth. Then he returned to town and to politics.
A few shght references to him in 1711 and 1712 occur
in Swift's Journal to Stella. Carteret sets down Prior
in his chariot ; and Prior, who could pun and not be
ashamed, thanks him for his 'charioty.' Twice Carteret
dines with the Secretary, St. John, when the very small
circle of guests was on each occasion entirely selected
by Swift. Swift himself jestingly expresses his high
opinion of Carteret, who was still a young man under
age. ' I will tell you,' writes Swift to Stella, ' a good
thing I said to my Lord Carteret. " So," says he, " my

Lord came up to me, and asked me, etc." " No,"

said I, " my Lord never did, nor ever can come up to

you." We all pun here sometimes.' ^ For Lady Carteret
also, who was married before she was seventeen. Swift,
the intimate friend of her mother, had great respect
and admiration. A curious glimpse of social manners
in high life in the closing years of Queen Anne's reign
accidentally introduces Lady Carteret's name. Swift
was dining with Lady Betty Germaine, and among the
company were the young Earl of Berkeley and his
Countess. ' Lady Berkeley after dinner clapped my hat
on another lady's head, and she in roguery put it upon

' To Stella, Jan. 4, 1710-11. The best of all puns is connected with
Cavteret and Swift. When Carteret was Lord -Lieutenant of Ireland, and was
entertaining once at the Castle, a lady's impetuous mantle overset a Cremona
fiddlo. Swift repeated to himself Virgil's line : —

Mantua vae miserae inmitim vicina Crcmonae.

c

18 LOBD CARTEBET

the rails. I minded them not, but in two minutes they
called me to the window, and Lady Carteret showed me
my hat out of her window five doors off, where I was
forced to walk to it, and pay her and old Lady Wey-
mouth a visit.' ^

Carteret took his seat in the House of Lords on May
25, 1711, a few weeks after he had attained his majority.
The previous year had produced a dramatically sudden
change in the state of English political affairs. From the
beginning of Anne's reign, and through the years made
eventful by Marlborough's victories, the fortunes of
the Whigs were aided by the success of Marlborough's
career. Marlborough was nominally, as Godolphin was
really, a Tory ; the first of Queen Anne's parUaments
had a Tory majority. Yet the Tory ministers found
themselves gradually looking for their chief support
to the Whigs. Godolphin and Marlborough practically
cared little about the differences of the Whig and Tory
party pohtics of their time. They put one question to
all political persons : Do you support the war or not ?
The High Tories frigidly answered, Xo ; the moderate
Tories did not profess any enthusiasm in the business.
It was a Whig war, King William's war ; the Tories had
little rehsh for a war against the chief supporter of the
House of Stuart. Xaturally the extreme Tories began
to drop away from the ministry. Those of a milder
type still supported the Government; and in 1704 Har-
ley and St. John joined it. But the A^liigs were be-
coming its main defence. In 1705 Cowper, the finest
Whig orator in the Commons, was made Lord Chancellor,
and in 1706 the Whig Sunderland, Carteret's special
friend, became Secretary of State. But this union of
real Wliigs and real and nominal Tories did not work
I Swift to Stella, June 6, 1711.

EABLY LIFE AND WORK IN PARLIAMENT 19

very well. Harley's cautiously intriguing nature very
soon proved dangerous. The Whigs commonly called
him the Trickster ; he was a master of backstairs cabal-
ling ; solemn, reserved, and mysterious. He carefully
worked on tlie one subject which most touched the
sluggishly feeble nature of the Queen. His measures,
privately supported by his relation, Abigail Hill, Sarah
of Marlborough's needy dependant and successful rival,
confirmed Anne's natural inclination to the Tories by
convincing her that under the Whigs the Church was
in danger. Gradually Anne withdrew her confidence
from her Whig ministers ; and Harley, thinking his
complete triumph sure, soon allowed himself to intrigue
and manoeuvre with very little attempt at concealment.
But an accident for a short time interrupted his plans.
In spite of his solemn seriousness and assumption of
mysterious profundity, he was incredibly careless in the
performance of business, and managed his office so
negligently that unscrupulous clerks found an opportu-
nity of conveying secret information to the enemy. No
crime of this sort was proved against Harley personally ;
but Marlborough and Godolphin refused any longer to
act with him. Early in 1708 he Avas thus forced to
resign, and St. John resigned with him, being succeeded
as Secretary at War by his life-long opponent Walpole.
The general election of 1708 gave again a large Whig
majority, and the fortunes of the party seemed firmly
established.

But a dramatic change soon followed. Towards the
close of 1709, Sacheverell, an extremely insignificant
High Church clergyman, preached two foolishly ultra-
Tory sermons, and, borrowing a nickname from Ben
Jonson's famous play, alluded to Godolphin as Yol-
pone. Sacheverell was an unimportant, ignorant man,

c 2

20 LOBD CABTEBET

whose fatal stupidity was probably at times amusing ;
though it is hardly worth while to read his obsolete dis-
courses for the sole satisfaction of finding the simile
'Like parallel lines meeting in a common centre.' To
have treated him and his noisy Jacobitism with in-
different contempt would have been the wiser way ; but
Godolphin was irritated by the nickname, and in oppo-
sition to prudent advice resolved to prosecute him.
Sacheverell was convicted ; but the very light sentence
was reckoned as his practical victory, and a strong Tory
reaction followed the ill-advised trial. An impetus
was thus given to the desires and plans of the Queen,
Harley, and Mrs. Masham. Anne dismissed Sunderland,
and, though the Whigs remained for some months in
office, they were no longer in power. In August 1710
the Government fell ; Harley and St. John became the
leaders of the new Tory administration ; and the general
election of the same year gave to the Tory party an
ascendency as complete as it was ephemeral.

The new Government seemed to have a very firm
seat in power when Carteret entered the House of Lords
in May 1711. Carteret might naturally have been ex-
pected to join the Tories. His not very remote ancestors
had been almost passionate in their Stuart loyalty. He
had himself just come from the Tory and Jacobitical
influences of Christ Church and Oxford. His relative
George GranvUle, Lord Lansdown — Pope's ' Granville
the polite ' — was extreme in his devotion to the Tories,
and was actually Secretary at War in the neAv Govern-
ment. Swift was Carteret's personal friend, and was
definitely rehnquishing the Whigs ; and friendship with
Swift had led to at least some intimacy with St. John.
But Carteret throughout his career never allowed pohti-
cal considerations to interfere with his private friendships,

EARLY LIFE AND WORK IN PARLIAMENT 21

and he was not now inclined to the Tory party because
he was privately intimate with the Tory leaders. He
did not perhaps at the very first definitely attach him-
self to either of the pohtical parties. On some questions
of minor importance he seems to have voted with the
Court. But on the one domestic question of overpo^Yer-
ing interest in the closing years of Queen Anne's reign,
the question of the Protestant succession, Carteret un-
hesitatingly took his place among the Wliigs.

The Whig party, when Carteret entered parliament,
was divided, though the dividing-line did not appear
very distinctly till George I. was on the throne. One
Whig section was then clearly seen to be headed by
Sunderland and Stanhope; another, by Walpole and his
brother-in-law, Townshend. The rivalries of these four
leaders were destined to end in open quarrels and
political changes ; but in 1711, when the Tories were
in overwhelming force, the Whigs could not very well
afford to quarrel among themselves. The more ad-
vanced and enhghtened section was that to which Stan-
hope and Sunderland belonged, and these were the two
statesmen with whom Carteret, in his earher pohtical
career, was most closely connected. Charles, Earl of
Sunderland, had proved the decisive triumph of the
Whig element in the Government by his appointment
as Secretary of State in 1706 ; and he was the first of
the Whigs whom Anne, after Sacheverell's trial, ven-
tured to dismiss. A man of strong temper and restlessly
vehement, he was considered in those days as being
even violent in Whiggism. Lord Shelburne wrote of
him : —

' Lord Sunderland was not only the most intriguing,
but the most passionate man of his time. . . . Lord
Holland, speaking of those times, said he once asked

i-2, LOBD CABTEBET

Sir Eobert Walpole why lie never came to an under-
standing -with Lord Sunderland. He answered, "You
little know Lord Sunderland. If I had so much as
hinted at it, his temper was so violent, that he would
have done his best to throw me out of the window." ' ^

Stanhope's early reputation had been made in war,
the capture of Minorca in 1708 being his most notable
performance. He had no special fitness for parhamen-
tary management. The eager boldness which charac-
terised him on the military side became, when applied
to parhamentary afiairs, a passionate impetuosity not
too safely suitable even for quiet times, and in every
way dangerous in the sudden storms of politics. He
was brave and incorrupt ; his knoAvledge of foreign
afiairs was large ; but his chief distinction with posterity
rests on his advocacy of religious toleration. Here he
was much in advance of his time. He brought about
the repeal of the educational persecution known as the
Schism Act ; he would have Hked, if he could, to have
modified the Test and Corporation Acts, and to have
offered some tolerance to Eoman Cathohcs and Dissenters.
That proved impossible, but the fault was not Stan-
hope's.

Stanhope and Sunderland were leaders in the cause
of the House of Hanover and the Protestant Succession.
On this matter Carteret fully shared their views, and
his first parhamentary Avork was concerned with this
much and angrily debated subject. Li the last years
of Anne's reign, the pohtical arrangement which had
been devised to secure the succession of a Protestant
sovereign seemed in considerable danger. In tlie
very year in which Carteret took his seat, a Jacobite

1 Shelburne's Autobiography; Lord E. Fitzmaurice's &helburne T
34-35. ' '

EARLY LIFE AND WOBE IN PARLIAMENT 23

agent wrote that if the Pretender would only land
with 10,000 men, not a sword would be drawn against
him. The Eoman Catholics, the landowners, the High
Churchmen were to a large extent Jacobite. Anne her-
self was more than suspected of no particular devotion
to the Act of Settlement and its favoured Hanoverians.
With hardly an exception, the leading statesmen of
her reign had been or were intriguers, or at least corre-
spondents, with St. Germains. On St. John, most of all,
Jacobite hopes were now confidently inclining to rest ;
St. John, who from the very formation of the Tory
ministry had been in eager rivalry with Harley, and as
Anne's reign drew towards its close was clearly getting
the better of him. It does not seem open to doubt
that if the Pretender could only have renounced his
Catholic religion, the immense majority of the people
would have declared for his succession. The ministry of
course insisted that there was no danger ; parhament
and the Government, in wearisomely repeated debates,
asserted their attachment to the Protestant cause ; but
there was a great air of unreahty and insincerity about
these formal periodical proceedings. One moment the
House of Commons declared its devotion to the Hano-
verian family ; the next, it ordered Sacheverell to preach
before it on Eestoration Day. Eoyal speeches made the
most satisfactory professions ; but royal manners and
actions did not care to correspond too closely with the
royal words. When in 171.^ the House of Lords, a far
more liberal assembly than the House of Commons,
wished Anne to urge friendly governments altogether to
discountenance the Pretender, the Queen, not altogether
untruly, but not at all reassuringly, replied that the
best way to secure the Protestant succession would be
to cease from animosities at home. The Lords were

24 LORD CABTEBET

told in language of conventional politeness to mind their
own afiairs. In such quarrelsome and contradictory cir-
cumstances, the general excitement increased daUy ; for
the question was highly interesting then, though it is
extremely dull now. Steele in 1713 produced the Crisis,
a now unreadable pamphlet, in support of the House
of Hanover. Swift anonymously replied in his Public
Spirit of the Whigs, and severely attacked the Scotch
Union, which was reckoned a great security against
the schemes of the Jacobites. When the new parha-
ment met in March 1714, the addresses of both Houses
expressed entire confidence that the Protestant cause
was not in the slightest danger ; and having thus satis-
fied the demands of formahty, parhament settled down
to furious debates on the subject. The Lords attacked
Swift for his pamphlet against the Whigs ; the Commons
kept the balance even by falhng foul of Steele and ex-
pelling him from the House.

In 1714. in one of the numberless debates on this
interminable question, Carteret definitely took his place
with the Whigs. He was in the minority, for the Lords
at last voted that the Protestant succession was in no
danger; but the majority was only twelve, the exact
number of the batch of recently created Tory peers,
whom Wharton on their appearance in the House un-
kindly asked if they meant to vote by their foreman.
The victory of the Government was a very poor one,
and the attack of the opposition was soon renewed.
Oxford put his hand on his heart and protested Ids
devotion to the Protestant cause ; but the general feehncr
Avas so strong that Wharton barbarously proposed to offer
a reward for the apprehension of the Pretender ahve or
dead. This encouragement to murder was indeed re-
jected ; one peer, while protesting his affection to the

EABLY LIFE AND WOBK IN PABLIAMENT 25

House of Hanover, declining to venture damnation for
them. The milder and reasonable proposal that a
reward should be offered for the arrest of James II.
if he should land or attempt to land in Great Britain
or Ireland was supported by Carteret. Anne at first
refused her consent, but the Government found itself
forced to yield, and issued the proclamation.

The angry debating and real danger were ended
in a dramatically sudden way. Three weeks after
Anne had prorogued this parliament, she died, in
August 1714, her illness aggravated by the bitter dis-
putes between her two rival ministers. Bolingbroke
had already triumphed so far as to obtain the dismissal
of Oxford, and was planning a cabinet of his own which
would really have been a Jacobite one ; but the Queen's
sudden death ruined all his plots. Two days before
she died, Anne appointed the Duke of Shrewsbury to
Oxford's vacant place, and the whole tendency of poli-
tical affairs was silently but decisively reversed. The
all-powerful Bolingbroke, bantered by the amused
malice of fortune, was almost insultingly hurried out of
office, and all despatches addressed to him passed into the
novice hands of Addison. Not a Tory or Jacobite was
ready to move, and the Whigs quietly entered upon a
period of political power which lasted uninterruptedly
for almost half a century.

With the new reign came distinctions for Carteret.
Before tlie coronation of George I. he was appointed
one of the lords of the bedchamber ; in 1715 his mother
was created Viscountess Carteret and Countess Granville
in her own right, with limitation of these honours to
lier son ; and in 1716 Carteret was made Lord- Lieutenant
of Devonshire, one of the western counties with which
the Granville family had been much connected. In the

26 LOBD CABTEBET

troubled year of 1715 Carteret, a young man of twenty-
five, was in the West, doing all he could in support of
the new Hanoverian estabhshment. While the Jacobite
rebelhon was at its height in the North, Carteret was
writing from Stowe to Eobethon, French secretary of
George I : —

' I am now two hundred long miles from you, situated
on a cliff overlooking the sea, and every tide have fresh
prospects in viewing ships coming home. In this corner
of the earth have I received your letter, and without
that I should have heard nothing since I came.

' Most of the neighbouring gentlemen have been with
me, and I am satisfied that the king will have no reason
to expect any disturbance from the west. I did not
think there was so good a company amongst [them].
I will do all I can to improve their thoughts of the
ministry, and discountenance all the little seeds of
faction that have been sown here.'^

Carteret's first parhamentary work had been in
support of the legal Hanoverian claim to the English
throne, and his first parhamentary distinction was
gained in defence of the newly established line. Though
George had been received in England with a languidly
peaceful indifference, a good deal of disturbance and
discontent was early evidence of a dangerous temper in
various parts of the country. Serious outbreaks had
led to the passing of the Eiot Act, and a rebellion had
broken out in Scotland and England. ]^Iany of the
Tories were Jacobites, and the Tories who were not
Jacobites were discontented, for they were totally
excluded from the Government. In these rather dis-
quieting circumstances, and in accordance ^-ith the
Triennial Act, a general election was nearly due. Eiots

1 Sept. 25, 1715. Brit. Mus. Sloane MSS. 4,107 ; fol. 171 y.

EABLY LIFE AND WORK IN FABLIAMENT 2,7

and confusion were even in untroubled times a matter
of course ; but on the present occasion tliere was the
further fear of the election of an increased number of
Jacobites. Eather than risk a general election, and
probably weaken the new and not very popular estab-
lishment, the ministry resolved to repeal the Triennial
Act.

Though the matter chiefly affected the House of
Commons, the Bill was introduced in the Lords. Every
one knew the real reason for the repeal, but formahty
required that ministerial speakers should indulge in
much declamation against the ruinous expense and
shameful corruption and dangerous party passions
which were the inevitable attendants of the frequent
general elections throughout the country. Carteret
supported the measure, and this first reported fragment
of a speech of his is interesting as showing that at the
very beginning of his career his attention was already
directed to foreign affairs and European pohtics. He
mainly urged that the increase in the average duration
of each English parliament would strengthen the hands
of the King and the Government in their deahngs with
the statesmen of Europe. The sudden changes pro-
duced by very frequent general elections perplexed
foreign countries, and relatively weakened England in
her foreign pohcy ; for continental statesmen did not
care to show more complaisance than was necessary to
ministers whose hold on power was exposed to such
frequent and capricious interruptions. Carteret's point
was an important one ; though the fine old Enghsh
feeling of satisfaction with everything that is English,
and of condescending indifference to the pursuits and
proceedings of mere foreigners, of course found a rather
confused expression in demands to know why English-

28 LOBD CABTERET

men and English ministers should pay any attention
to the convenience of European statesmen. The Sep-
tennial Bill, however, was carried easily enough, and
the question does not in itself require any consideration
in an account of Carteret's life ; but the fact that
Carteret's first recorded parhamentary utterance con-
cerned itself with the foreign politics of England and of
Europe gives an artistic symmetry and singleness to the
story of his pohtical career. Eor throughout his very
varied public life this was the one question which in-
terested him most. It formed the argument of this first
youthful speech, and it was the subject of the last
recorded words which he uttered on his death-bed.

29

CHAPTEE II.

DIPLOMACY.
1717-1719.

DuEiNG the first half of the eighteenth century the great
Whig party in England was divided into two main sec-
tions, definable, with sufficient accuracy, as Whigs in
place, and Whigs out of place. In the earlier years of
the reign of George I. one of these rival sections was
headed by Walpole and Townshend, the other by Stan-
hope and Sunderland. The four statesmen had all, on
the accession of the King, been fellow-members of the
same united Whig Government ; Townshend, practically
Prime Minister ; Stanhope, chief director of foreign
affairs ; Walpole, Paymaster ; and Sunderland, consider-
ably to his own disgust, Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland.
But this union, never very cordial, did not last long.
Differences and disputes were increased by underhand
caballing and unedifying intriguing, and Walpole and
Townshend fell. Their colleague-rivals came into un-
divided power, and by them admission into official life
was gladly offered to Lord Carteret.

The schism between the four ministers had reached
its crisis over the question of foreign politics. The
position of George on his accession was not a reassuring
one. European enemies were many ; allies few and
unsatisfactory. France had recognised George as King,
and was perfectly willing to recognise his rival. Spain

30 LOBD CABTEBET

was a mere province of France. The German Emperor,
Charles YI., had been full of irritated contempt for
England ever since Harley and St. John had made their
Treaty of Utrecht, and had astonished him by refusing
to fight for his Spanish succession any longer. Peter
of Eussia was sulkily jealous, for George stood in the
way of certain Eussian schemes in Germany. Charles
XII. of Sweden, though his country was now in a
disastrous condition, and he himself an exile in Turkey,
was enraged Avhen he heard that George was joining
the alliance against him, and preparing to take posses-
sion of Bremen and Yerden. To balance all this
opposition of Kings, and Czars, and Emperors, England
could only boast of the friendship of the States-General,
and, in a fitful sort of way, of the attachment of the
King's son-in-law, Frederick Y^illi am of Prussia. Xeither
of these alliances was very satisfactory. Holland was
now very different from the Holland of Cromwell's time ;
the value of its alhance, even when the Dutch slucrgish

^ Co

officialism could be got to act practically at all, was
painfully slight, as Carteret himself in later years more
than once experienced to his cost. And assistance
procurable from Prussia was mainly of the shadowy,
problematic kind ; its King quite new on his oa\ti
throne, and his famous army still a thing of the future,
even if the domestic relations of the Eno-lish and
Prussian sovereigns had not generally been acrid
enough. For England the European outlook was de-
cidedly gloomy, and George had many troubles of his
own to vex and bewilder him. His new kingdom had
not the slightest enthusiasm or admiration for him • his
desirable Bremen and Yerden, bought as the cheapest
of bargains from the ruins of the empire of Charles
XII., hung very loosely and undecidedly to him, and

DIPLOMACY 31

his Hanover, which seems to have been his singular
synonym for heaven, lay open to the attacks of enraged
Swedes or intriguing Eussians. His condition was
unenviable.

In such circumstances, the question of making a
real ally of France, of detaching France from the party
of the Pretender, soon seemed one of much importance
to George. The state of affairs in France at the time
offered fortunate encouragement to this rather starthng
change in English diplomacy. Louis XIV. had died a
year after the accession of the English King. The Duke
of Orleans was regent ; if his ward, the delicate child
Louis XV., should die, Orleans himself, according to
the Treaty of Utrecht, would be King ; for though
the Spanish King was a nearer Bourbon in blood,
that treaty forbade one sovereign to wear together the
crowns of Spain and of France. Yet in spite of the
renunciation which he had duly made, Philip V. of
Spain, inspired by Alberoni, might attempt to secure
the French throne, and make no more of his pledged
word than Louis XIV. had done before him. Such a
claim, if made, would lead to war ; to the Eegent,
therefore, an alliance with England was a question of
direct material advantage. The two countries being
thus personally interested, England and France began
to draw together. A quite new line of European policy
was opened up, and George, chiefly from Hanoverian
anxieties, became eager to conclude a definite engage-
ment without loss of time.

The negotiations were troublesome and tedious.
Commenced at Paris by the ambassador Lord Stair
(best remembered now as English commander at the
battle of Dettingen, if there was any commander at all
in that singular engagement), they were continued at

32 LOBD CABTEBET

the Hague by Horatio Walpole, Sir Eobert's younger
diplomatic brother. For the union was not to be be-
tween England and France alone ; Holland was to be
included ; if there was strong desire to secure a new
ally, there was no wish to offend or alarm an old one.
Horatio Walpole gave his word to the States-General
that no treaty should be made without them, and he
quite sincerely meant it. But as Marlborough had
found in the days of Queen Anne, and as Carteret, and
Stair, and Chesterfield were to find in the days of
George H., the Dutch were very slow and exceedingly
formal. George became very impatient. Let the
treaty with France get signed at once, he earnestly
urged ; let the Dutch come in to it when they like,
whenever their slow formality is ready. Dubois him-
self tlierefore took the affair in hand ; the Limousin
apothecary's son, who had risen so high Ijy base, brutish
methods. He went to the Hague, pretending to be
merely bu}ing pictures and rare books in which a dis-
solute abbe, of some culture, might decently affect in-
terest. From the Hague to Hanover, under mysterious
incognito, though all the English newspapers knew of it,
and there in August 1716, after the due diplomatic
wranghng and haggling. Stanhope and he came to
terms ; England renewing her assurance of support to
the French Eegent, and France promising to dismiss the
Stuart Pretender beyond the Alps.

George had thus secured his desired French alliance,
though without the concurrence of the Dutch as yet ; but
he had involved himself in ministerial disputes at home.
It Avas mainly this French treaty and the negotiations
Avhich accompanied it that brought the rival parties
in the AVhig government to a decisive rupture.

The King, who had shown no particular hurrv to

DIPLOMACY 33

come to England when its crown became his, showed a
very particular hurry to get back to his German home
again as soon as he possibly could. Accompanied by
Secretary Stanhope, and leaving Walpole and Towns-
hend to manage affairs in England, he went to Hanover
in the summer of 1716, while this French treaty was
still in the doubtful hands of diplomacy ; and to Han-
over soon wandered Lord Sunderland in a more or less
discontented condition. He had received royal per-
mission to leave England on the plea of ill-health, and
had gone to Aix-la-Chapelle to drink the Avaters there.
From Aix he easily found his way to Hanover. The
two ministers in London knew perfectly weU that their
colleague was inclined to intrigue against them ; they
seriously suspected that nothing but the hurry of the
royal escape to Hanover had hindered a decisive minis-
terial change already. Sunderland had, of course, pro-
tested. ' Lord Sunderland,' writes Lady Cowper, ' took
leave of Lord Townshend with a thousand protestations
that he would do nothing to hurt any of them, and that
his main intention in going was to persuade the King
to come back soon.' ^ Walpole seems partly to have
beheved these protestations ; but Sunderland was only
veiling falsehood under formality. He was exceedingly
discontented ; dissatisfied that he was merely Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland and not Secretary of State ; dis-
gusted with the superiority of Townshend and the as-
cendency of Walpole. At Hanover, therefore, he found
his passionate pleasure in strengthening the King's sus-
picions of the leading ministers in England.

These suspicions in the King's dull though honest
mind rested chiefly on the seemingly unnecessary slow-
ness in signing the treaty with France. Townshend,

' Ladv Cm\^ev's Diary, 1l'4-1i'5.

D

34 LORD CABTEBET

remembering the formal promise to the Dutch, was
cautious. Horatio Walpole, whose private word was
emphatically pledged, felt that he could not honourably
sign the agreement which Stanhope and Dubois had
made. After many pressing entreaties on each side, he
was allowed to extricate himself from the negotiation
altogether, and returned to London. There he found
things in the greatest confusion. Letters had come
from the King, from Stanhope, from Sunderland, full of
reproaches against Walpole and Town.shend, charging
them with needless sloAvness, with opposing the King's
continental policy, and with favouring the party of the
Prince of ^^ales, who was Eegent in England and on
the usual bad terms with his father. ' It is a family,'
said Carteret on another occasion, ' that has quaiTelled
from generation to generation, and always wiU quarrel.'
George was disgusted that his son was Eegent at all,
and was annoyed with the ministers w^ho had compelled
him to consent. All these causes of pique and dis-
content were carefully cherished and anxiously mao-ni-
fied by the Hanoverian ministers and favourites who
naturally enough surrounded the King. A hungry,
slightly vulgar crew, these Germans looked upon
the good things of England as plunder providentially
suppHed lor persons of mere Hmited Hanoverian Avays
and means : and ATalpole and Townshend, Avho took a
different %-iew of the subject, stood in their Avay with
annoying effectiveness. Of Bothmar, one of the chief
of these objectionable foreigners, ToAvnshend said that
he had eveiy day some infamous project or other on
foot for getting money. Eobethon, another of them,
whom Swilt in one of h\> political tracts calls ■ a verv
inconsiderable French vagrant,' wa- pubhcly spoken U
liy Walpole in the House of Commr.n'- as a mean fellow

DIPLOMACY 35

an impertinent busybody ; and the Government took it
as a matter of conrse that he would do them all the
harm he could. Bernsdorf, as interested and corrupt
as any, seems to have been considerably a fool in addi-
tion ; a mischievous, stupid old creature, poldng about
with solemn stupidity in whatever dirt offered the pos-
sibility of an acceptable shilhng ; puzzling in negotiations
' with the adroitness of a cow,' said Secretary Craggs,
who was always uncomplimentary to the bovine Hano-
verian. To one of these grasping vagrants, detected in
some mendacity in the King's presence, Walpole once
exclaimed, in the only dialect in which he could commu-
nicate with Germans, Mentiris impudentissinie : You are
a most impudent liar ; but George only laughed. All
these vulgar, hungry persons were working with the im-
placability of disappointed greed, upon the King's annoy-
ance witli Walpole and Townshend, and the rapacious
German women who reigned in a queenless court were
equally bitter against the ministers who excluded them
from the glory and the profit of the English peerage.
The discontents and misrepresentations grew so unbear-
able that Townshend resolved to resign when the King
returned, and Walpole spoke of his brother-in-law and
himself as chained to the oar and toiling like slaves.

It was almost in despair that the two statesmen
decided to send Horatio AValpole to Hanover, that tliey
might have at least one friend in the crowd of schemei's
who surrounded the King. For the moment, Walpole's
presence seemed to interrupt the intrigues. Stanhope
reasserted his protestations of attachment to the minis-
ters in England ; the King regretted that he himself
had formed misconceptions, and, after receiving from
Townshend a justification of his conduct, declared that
his confidence was restored. Thinking that now all was

86 LORD CABTEBET

well, Horatio Walpole returned to England to^vards the
close of 1716 ; but his arrival in London ^^vas almost
instantly followed by a despatch from Stanhope, an-
nouncing that Townshend w&=i dismis-ed from his office
of Secretaiy of State. "Walpole, never afraid of using
frank language, remonstrated earnestly with Stanhope,
and said in his plain, direct way that all tliose who had
spread reports against his brother-in-law and himself
Avere ' confounded liars from the beginning to the end.'
Expostulation was useless. Even the Lord-Lieutenancv
of Ireland, Avhich Townshend had accepted after first
indignantly refusing it, was, early in 1717. taken from
him. Walpole immediately threw up his own emplov-
ment, and Stanhope and Sunderland rose to unrestricted
power.

Carteret himself had no share in this pohtical
quarrel ; but the two statesmen who thus gained un-
divided influence were his willing introducers into tlie
high places of diplomacy and politics. Stanhope made
him ambassador to Sweden in 1719 ; Sunderland made
him Secretary of State in the early months of 1721.

It was noticed with considerable disgust that the
first foreign complication which entangled England
under George I. was the direct result of the Hanoverian
connection. Eor twenty years, ever since 1697 and the
accession of the boy-king Charles XII. to the throne of
Sweden, all the north of Europe had been in a -tate
of confused quarrel. The nortliern ruler-, Auwu^t the
Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, Frederick
IV. of Denmark, and tlie Czar Peter, anxious to tear
back from Sweden the pos.e^sion-^ gained by Gu^tavu^
Adolphus and the Thirty Years' Var. thou^/ht their
opportunity had come when the new Swedi^li Kincr was
little more than a child ; and they were filled°with

DIPLOMACY 87

alarmed astonishment when the opportunity proved to
be the young King's, and not theirs at all. Hurrying
from victory to victory, Charles would not listen to
anxious proposals for peace, and the war dragged on
till the battle of Pultowa sent him, a fugitive, to
Turkey. Doggedly and uselessly he spent five years
at Bender or Demotica, while the northern allies were
busily attacking his possessions in Germany. Frederick
William of Prussia joined the league and took firm
possession of Stettin ; while Denmark, by occupying
Bremen and Verden, was indirectly drawing England
into the quarrel. Suddenly in the dead of a November
night of 1714, Charles, who had ridden through Europe
in disguise, appeared all covered with snow at the gates
of Stralsund, his own town in Pomerania. Frederick
of Denmark, alarmed for the Swedish territories which
he had gained, and anxiously afraid that Charles might
be too much for him after all, sacrificed some of his
conquests that he might make quite sure of the others,
and sold Bremen and Verden, on the cheapest of terms,
to George as Elector of Hanover. Thus England, too,
was drawn into the coalition against Sweden, and an
English squadron, under Admiral Norris, sailed to the
Baltic to protect what interests England might have
there. With prompt retaliation, Charles, exasperated
Avith the Elector who was also a King, joined the councils
of the Jacobites, and a probable Swedish invasion of
England became a serious political consideration.

Sweden by herself, in her very broken condition,
need not have caused England very great anxiety ; but
the unscrupulously adventurouspolicy of anew Swedish
minister made her proceedings too formidable for con-
tempt. This minister was Baron Gortz, a Franconian,
who had entered the service of Charles XII. ' A man

38 LOBB CARTERET

of no high birth,' said Carteret of him in the House of
Lords many years after, ' nor any supereminent quali-
ties ; yet by his cunning he got such a power over his
master that nothing was done without him ; no post,
civil or military, was bestowed but according to his
direction.' The policy of Gortz aimed at a reconcile-
ment between Sweden and Eussia, and reckoned confi-
dently that Spanish money would then support the
union of Charles and the Czar with the Jacobites. Peter
and Charles were both poor monarchs ; but they had a
rich friend eagerly ready to help them in Alberoni, the
Italian working-gardener's son, once servant to a parish
clerk, now practically King of Spain. Gortz, abundantly
supplied with Alberoni's gold, began to work his Jaco-
bite plots in Sweden, in Holland, and in England itself ;
but he could not keep his doings secret from the Eng-
li'ih ministers, whose instant activit}' quickly sent the
schemer and his schemes together to irrecoverable ruin.
In January 1717 the Government took the strong step
of arresting the Swedish ambassador to England, and
gave no heed to the shocked and sorrowful anger of Spain
at so frightful an incident in international deportment.
The ambassador's letters and papers sufficiently revealed
a Swedish-Jacobite plot, of which Carteret afterwards
discovered the full details in Sweden. Gortz also,
hitherto unknown in England, was arrested bv Eno--
land's ally, Holland, and an Enghsh fleet appeared in
the Sound. In close succession followed two fatal blows,
which cut short the plans and plots of Charles and
Alberoni in a very decisive manner. On the 10th of
August, 1718, Admiral Byng destroyed the Spanish fleet
in the roads of Messina, and England sliortly afterwards
declared war against Spain ; and a second, far severer
blow to the Spanisli Cardinal was the death of Charles

DIPLOMACY 89

XII., near the close of the same year. The pohtical
condition of the North was at once completely changed.
The projected reconciliation between Eussia and
Sweden was laid aside ; Gortz was tried and executed ;
and, not very much later, his fantastic scheme finally
vanished in the sudden and complete disgrace of
Alberoni.

Before this last event had taken place, Carteret and
diplomacy had appeared conspicuously on tlie scene.
The new young Queen of Sweden, Ulrique Eleanora,
Charles's younger sister, was very anxious for peace with
England. To exhausted Sweden, impoverished in men
and money, and menaced on all sides by the fleets and
armies of four hostile powers, peace and friendship with
one at least of them was almost a necessary condition of
existence. That it should be England vsdth which jjeace
should first be made was the notion and wish of Ulrique
and George alike ; first with England, and then England
would willingly offer her general mediation to obtain for
Sweden the best possible terms from her three remaining
enemies. The diplomatic task would be complicated,
perhaps difficult ; Carteret found it far more difficult
than he had imagined ; but it was the plan which seemed
best and most likely to succeed. It was entrusted to
Carteret. His political abilities had already excited
attention ; and now in the early months of 1719 his
friend Stanhope, the chief manager of foreign affairs,
appointed him ambassador extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary to the Queen of Sweden.

When tlie parliamentary session ended, and the
early summer came round (parliament generally meet-
ing in January or February and ending in April or May,
in those days), the King and Stanhope left for Hanover,

40 LOBD CABTEBET

and Carteret in June sailed for Sweden.^ A fortnight
afterwards he landed at Gothenburg, thence to make
his way as speedily as possible overland to Stockholm.
Every day was precious to Sweden in its disastrous con-
dition, and Carteret personally was always prompt and
indefatigable in public business. A week, he hoped,
would take him from Gothenburg to Stockholm, though
he was slightly disappointed in that. There were un-
usually great difEculties in travelling in Xorwaj^ and
Sweden at the time ; a hostile Danish fleet saihng to
Norway, a Swedish army marching to meet it, and in
such circumstances few horses to be procured except
for military purposes. In spite of his anxiety to hurry
on, Carteret was detained three days at Gothenburg, and
could not in any way find horses till the governor of
the town had requisitioned the peasants to bring them
in. It was July 11 before he reached Stockholm, accom-
panied by a young Swedish nobleman whom the Queen
had sent to attend him.

Queen Ulrique very gladly and kindly, as she well
might, received the English plenipotentiary, appointed
ministers to come to terras with him, and cheerfully saw
the peace negotiations begun. Her husband, too. the
Prince of Hessen-Cassel, showed Carteret great favour,
and a strong personal liking arose among all three.
These and other private friendships made in Sweden
were personally pleasant enough, but the negotiations
were capricious and intricate. Carteret had four dis-

' Everything that i* contained in tbe rest of this chapter is based upon
Carteret's own unprinted despatches from ^Stockholm and elsewlieie to the
ministers in London. The story of the embassy, so far as it cnncerns Carteret
himself, has never before been told ; and even on the strictly impersonal
political side, the events of 171ti and 1720 are passed over very 'lightly in the'
freneral histories of that period. Carteret's despatches are in Brit Mus Add
MSS. 22,-511 -i'i',.5U. " ■'•^"'^-

DIPLOMACY 41

tinct pieces of Avork to bring, if possible, to a successful
issue ; and there was a fifth, to which also he was to
lend a helping hand. Sweden's peace was to be made
with England, with Prussia, with Eussia, and with Den-
mark ; and, as a preliminary to all this, peace was also
to be made with George as Elector of Hanover, and the
tiresome business of Breu:en and Verden to be so settled.
George's own Hanoverian minister, Bassewitz, was already
at Stockholm, working at this last arrangement, and had
made considerable progress in it when Carteret arrived.
But Carteret saw at once that there could be no satis-
factory settlement except on one preliminary condition.
The most pressing want of Sweden was effectual assist-
ance against the Czar, who was keeping the whole
country in constant dread of invasion and destruction.
If no help came, Sweden -would be simpl}- compelled to
make peace with Peter on his own terms. There was
a Swedish party whirl i desired this; though the more
influential leaders were in favour of the agreement with
England. But if England gave no sign of practical as
well as of diplomatic good-will, this jjatriotic party might
be unable to prevail. Sir John Norris and his fleet
were anchored at the Skaw. Coidd they not come
nearer to Stockholm ? Carteret, who saw that tliis
would be the best of all possible aids to his negotiations,
himself anxiously desired it. He had been less than
a week at Stockholm when this question of the fleet
became the one point on which all turned. News
suddenly arrived that the Czar's troops were embarking,
designing to land close by Stockholm. The Swedish
negotiators hurried to Carteret. Nothing now, they
urged, could save them but the Enghsh fleet. In the
name of the Queen and Prince, let Norris come ; and
within eight days George's treaty as Elector should be

42 LORD CABTEBET

settled as satisfactorily as he could wisli. And George's
interests as King of Great Britain? asked Carteret,
requiring the Queen's own word for satisfactory per-
formances. The Queen readily gave it, and Carteret
undertook to write to the admiral as soon as the pre-
liminary promises were formally fulfilled. ' The alarm
changes every thing in our favour,' he wrote to his
friend Secretary Craggs ; ' I shall make all the use of it
I can, and if the fleet sails, I believe we shall do oiir
business with honour.'

Diplomatic matters were thus pleasantly hurried, and
negotiations became very active. Bassewitz's prehminary
treaty, by Avdiich Bremen and Yerden were formally
handed over to the Elector of Hanover, Avas signed and
ratified ; and on the very same day (July 22, 1719)
Carteret, though only with great difficulty, obtained the
Swedish signatures to a preliminary convention with
George as King of England. Xever, says Carteret, were
people more unwiUing to set their hands to a paper
than were the Swedes to sign this preliminary treaty.
It was the hope of the fleet, and that alone, which
carried the day ; for Carteret on liis side promised
to Avrite by express urging Xorris to advance. He
waited only till the Swedish senate should ratify this
convention which the Swedish negotiators had accepted ;
the letter then sliould go to Xorris at once.

Yet Carteret was still harassed by further difiiculty
and delay. The Secretary of State soon came to him,
bringing, Carteret supposed, the desired ratification ;
but it proved to be otherwise. The plenipotentiaries
were already frightened at what they had done. They
now asserted that Carteret's terms had been too hard on
tliem ; that his promises were too vague ; that the
Senate would never ratify such an agreement. The

DIPLOMACY 43

Secretary argued with Carteret for three hours, and, not
making any impression, declared that tlie whole thing
must be looked upon as broken off. Carteret Avas not
the man easily to agree to that. Late at night, at his
request, the plenipotentiaries were summoned to meet
him again. They were very emphatic ; the states, they
said, would pull them to pieces for such a treaty as they
had signed, and any ratification of it was impossible.
Carteret simply refused to accept another agreement
which they had prepared for him ; but in order that
the failure of the negotiation might not in any degree
rest upon himself, he patiently sat down to draw up a
third paper which might be sufficiently acceptable to
the Swedes. It was a hopeless attempt, and at three
o'clock in the morning the negotiators separated, no
agreement having been concluded. Carteret, however,
would not even yet despair. He told the statesmen that
he would not go to bed, but would wait for them three
hours more. If no ratification was obtainable by six
o'clock, he would go clown from Stockholm to the army,
to see whether the Prince approved these proceedings
of Swedish diplomacy.

Six o'clock came, but no ratification ; and Carteret
indefatigably started on a six hours' journey to find
Queen Ulrique's husband in his quarters Avith the army.
His business there Avas successfully accomplished, the
Prince and the Field-marshal (avIio AA^as a^.so one of the
leading SAvedish statesmen) giving him a letter Avhich
might materially assist him if the temper of the nego-
tiators should be still the same. Late in the evening
Carteret returned to Stockholm ; the bright Hghts which
he saw as he rode that hot July night from the camp
to the capital were the fires Avith Avhich the Czar and
his Muscovites were burnin<j; the islands on the SAvedish

41 LORD CABTEliET

coast. ' He Ijurns all upon the islands, and takes the
men prisoners. I saw his fires as I came back,' writes
Cai-teret, who, however, did not stop to look at them,
for his negotiation had become more pressing than ever.
While he himself had been with the Prince that after-
noon, the Czar's minister had been actually in the
Swedisli camp with propositions of peace from Eus&ia.
Here was news likely to make the more patriotic
S^vedish statesmen less obstinate in their deaHn^rs with
England ; for if the English negotiation failed, Sweden,
in her almost defenceless condition, would be forced to
accept what terms it might please Eussia to offer. In
these circumstances, without the slightest loss of time
(though Carteret must have been very weary), a new
agreement was devised to the contentment of each side,
and Carteret very gladly got his ratification safe at last
— so near, as he said himself, had he been losing all in
the very port. At midnight that same night, the affair
being now happily settled, Carteret wrote to Xorris
urging him, if his instructions were sufficient, to join
with his fleet the Swedish ships in the Baltic, and com-
plete the dehverance of Sweden.

But the days passed on, and Xorris did not come.
As Carteret had partly conjectured, Xorris would not
venture to take so decisive a step without express
orders from the King, and Stanhope had already written
to the admiral that the King Avas resolved to send no
further instructions till he knew that the negotiation
in Sweden had been successful. Carteret's situation,
therefore, became very difiicult. It was only the
promise of the fleet that had gained the much-de-ired
bi;j nature, and after all there wa- not the shghtest sicrn
of the fleet's arrival. The Swedish Senate, which does
not impress one as having been an unusually wise

DIPLOMACY 45

assembly, began to turn again to thoughts of peace
with Eussia. The Queen anxiously implored Carteret's
presence at the palace of Carleberg, where the Senate
was ; and as he walked in the royal gardens with the
Prince there, senators were sent out to converse with
him, eager to know if anything might still be hoped for
from Admiral Norris. Carteret gave tliem the best
hopes he could, but all his assertions must have seemed
far too problematical ; for that same day, early in
August 1719, the Senate decided for peace with the
Czar on what terms he pleased. Slightly ashamed of
their tame resolution, and abashed by the courage of
the Queen (true sister of Charles XTI.), they did indeed
next day venture to mention that some conditions on
their side would be necessary ; but their vacillating
conduct was endangering all the negotiations, and
throwing everything loose again. If only the fleet
would come ! longed Carteret, and he eagerly awaited a
reply to the despatches which he sent to Stanhope at
Hanover. ' The moment a courier arrives,' he writes
to Stanhope, ' my house is full of senators, inquirincj
about the fleet ; ' and Carteret had to listen, with un-
complaining patience, to their exceedingly unpleasant
remarks. He himself could do nothing but wait and
hope, really sorry for the actual condition of Sweden,
and for the worse things that would come upon it if
the Czar should be able to impose his own terms of
peace. Sweden ' as yet does not feel all her wounds.'
Carteret rather eloquently wrote ; ' they are -warm.
The late King put a spirit and a courage, and left a
motion in this nation which is not yet expired, but it
abates daily, and will soon cease.'

Carteret's situation was sufficiently unpleasant, yet
just at this point his difficulties were suddenly and

46 LORD CABTEEET

seriously increased. While he had been busy at Stock-
holm, Georrre and Stanhope at Hanover had been
carrying on negotiations witli Frederick William of
Prussia, anxious to induce him to accept English
mediation, and so secure his peace with Sweden. Stan-
hope had succeeded, though much plagued by the
usual self-interested interference of the sordid Hano-
verians, and he now despatched instructions to Carteret
informing him that a fair acceptance by Sweden of
Prussia's reasonable terms must be the essential con-
dition of any English reconciliation with Sweden.
George's own arrangement with Sweden as Elector of
Hanover was already practically safe, and with infinite
difficulty Carteret had brought the settlement between
England and Sweden into a fair way of success ; but
here was likely to be a fatal blow to the whole negotia-
tion which had painfully advanced so far. Carteret
hastened to the Prince, who was very cold and dis-
appointed when he heard the news ; but Carteret,
speaking with frank sincerity, told him that he Avas
positively ordered to break ofi" his negotiation altogether
if this point were not granted. The Prince at length
was personally gained over to consent by Carteret's
arguments and frankness, but he declared that it was
hopeless to fancy that the Senate would ever accept
such a plan. In no case whatever would there be the
shghtest chance of success for any such scheme without
the actual junction of the English and Swedish fleets,
and the guarantee by England that Sweden should re-
cover Eevel and Livonia from the Czar.

Having succeeded so far with tlie Prince, Carteret
had next to deal with the Swedi'^h plenipotentiaries.
The cessions which Frederick Wilham required from
Sweden were principally Stettin and its dependent

DIPLOMACY 47

towns, which were included in that part of Pomerania
obtained by Sweden at the end of the Thirty Years'
War, though Brandenburg had had long previous legal
claims on them. By joining the alliance against
Charles XII,, Frederick WiUiam had made himself
master of Stettin and Stralsund. He surrendered all
claims on Stralsund, but Stettin he was resolved to
keep, and the English Government supported him.
When Carteret informed the Swedish statesmen of the
Prussian and English requirements, he found them
perfectly firm. England, they said, must absolutely
guarantee the recovery of Revel and Livonia, or the
cessions to Prussia would not be listened to for a mo-
ment. It was in vain that Carteret, with his usual
recognition of realities, urged upon the Swedes that in
no case could they ever regain the possessions which
Frederick William now held ; that it would be better for
them to accept the friendly mediation of England and
to grant Prussia's moderate demands, than to break off
the whole negotiation, and possibly throw Frederick
Wilham into the arms of the Czar. Arguments were
useless ; neither side would give way, and Carteret,
looking upon the case as desperate, gave up all hope
of success. But he met the negotiators once more,
and this time an exceedingly fortunate incident secured
what diplomacy seemed unable to reach. On August
30, 1719, Carteret writes from Stockholm to Stanhope
at Hanover : —

' Yesterday we met again. Tlie whole matter was
talked over in the same terms. They told me the
Senate would never consent to it ; and just as I was
leaving them, giving all for gone, I had the good luck
to receive a letter from Sir John Norris, so prudently
and discreetly writ, that I could show it them ; in

48 LORD CABTEBEI

whicti he said, he waited only for the first fair wind to
come to Hanoe. Tliis prevailed infinitely more than
anything I could say ; turned the balance in my favour.
They immediately, while I stayed in the Chancery,
went and communicated that letter to the Senate.
Count Sparre, who had all along opposed this matter,
said I had acted frankly and honourably ; that he saw,
by the letter of the admiral, that the Eng of Great
Britain and his ministers were in earnest ; therefore he
would not be ashamed to change his opinion, and be
for concluding the treaty with me, if I would admit of
some alterations. The plenipotentiaries returned, and
told me the Senate was inclined to advise the Queen to
conclude A\'ith me, making some amendments, which
they would acquaint me with the next day.'

Here Avas the negotiation rescued from the fire
once more ; the proposed alterations were agreed to,
and the fleet was coming, not to stop at Hanoe, but
to sail on to Stockholm itself. Carteret, in bis usual
generous way. ignoring las own hard work and per-
sistent energy, gave to Xorris the credit for w^hatever
might be the consequent success, reserving only for
himself the blame of possible mistakes and misadven-
tures. The third of his five pieijes of work, Sweden s
peace with Prussia, was thus successfully started ; and
on September 1, 1719, he gladly wrote to Xorris on
the news of his approach : —

'I received your letters of the loth and 17th
[August 20 and 28, X.S.j about eleven o'clock tJiis
night, with inexpressible joy and ■satisfaction. I went
immediately to Court ; but her Maje-^ty was abed. I
called up his royal highness, wlio received the new^
with the utmo-t pleasure ; and to liira I delivered your
letter to the Queen. . . . You have now a verv

DIPLOMACY 49

glorious scene of action open to you, in which you
will show to the whole world what the English nation
can do. 'Tis the honestest cause that ever man was
engaged in. The great business is to intercept the
Czar, that he may not get to Eevel. Cut off his re-
treat, and we are sure of him. I am afraid those two
frigates that hovered about our fleet will have carried
him advice of your dispositions to sail, and he will run
away. [This turned out to be the case.] There is not an
honest man in Sweden that would not now lay down
his life for our King. I must do the good Queen the
justice to say, that she always trusted to the King's
word, and has shown a certain courage and greatness
of soul in her distress, which is hardly to be met with
out of this country and our own. God bless you. Sir
John Norris. All honest and good men will give you
just applause. Many persons will envy you ; but no-
body will dare say a word against you.'
Carteret adds in a postscript : — -
' 1 now thank God that I have prevented their
making peace with the Czar. It lay heavy upon my
conscience, whilst I saw their misery, and heard of no
succours coming.'

Queen and Prince, too, were very glad and grateful.
' Mon ami ! ' said the . Prince to Carteret, ' ne me re-
gairlez pas comme prince, mais comne gentilhonime et
officier anglais.' The actual arrival of the fleet, and
the splendid entertainments given on board by the
admiral, increased the good feeling. Carteret was per-
sonally much relieved, for his situation had been very
embarrassing. He speaks of it in a note to Secretary
Craggs in September : —

' No public minister was ever, for a month together,
upon so bad, nor upon so dangerous a situation as I

E

50 LORD CARTERET

have been. The common people looked upon me as
the author of their misery, by preventing the peace
with the Czar, while no succours came. . . . How-
ever, I still went on in the same strain, and have
worked through with some success ; so that at present
no ambassador was ever upon a better footing in a
country than I am. I hope not to stay long ; though
the Court, when I hint at going, are in concern. I say
I will return in spring, if the King will let me, with
the fleet. I don't doubt but you will continue to me
your friendship ; for I shall be, dear Craggs, yours for
ever.'

So high was the reputation of England in Sweden
at this particular moment, that Carteret thought he
might hopefully venture upon the fourth part of his
work : the arrangement of peace between Sweden and
Denmark. From the very first, this had seemed likely
to be the most difficult of all his tasks. More than
against all the other enemies that had attacked them,
the feehngs of the Swedes were bitter against tlie
Danes. When Carteret, soon after his arrival, had
hinted at some cessions to Denmark, the Swedish nego-
tiators had flamed out at once, declaring that they
would rather give everything to the Czar than anything
to Denmark. Eligen and Stralsund were already in
possession of the Danes ; but when Carteret alluded to
the Danish retention of those places, and peace between
Sweden and Denmark on such terms, the. Prince desired
him, as a personal friend, never more to mention such
a thing to him. The animosity against the Danes was
almost incredible, wrote Carteret ; and he had felt
obliged to be mainly silent on that point ; all the more,
perhaps, because it was the Danes who, by the bait of
Bremen and Verden, had drawn George and England

DIPLOMACY 51

into the quarrel. But now when England was high in
favour — for on the first news of the approach of JSTorris
the Czar had withdrawn his fleet and galleys — Carteret
thought he might venture to reopen the question.
He began by offering the King's mediation to obtain for
Sweden peace with Denmark, and was glad, perhaps
a little surprised, to find that accepted. He even pre-
vailed on Sweden, though with difficulty, to agree to
a cessation of arms for six months. After all the re-
pulses he had met with in this delicate affair, this
seemed to Carteret a fair and hopeful beginning ; it
might be possible to get actual peace agreed to before
the six months were out. But Carteret knew that the
question of Eiigen and Stralsund would be an almost
insuperable difficulty ; it would be the hardest thing
possible to persuade Denmark to restore what it had
conquered from Sweden. That the question had been
actually opened was the most hopeful thing that could
yet be said about it ; its settlement would be at least
a matter of time ; and meanwhile Carteret, who had
now four separate negotiations on hand at once, was
very anxious to get some of them definitely decided,
and removed beyond the reach of often-threatening
accidents.

Of George's treaty as Elector of Hanover, the main
point, the transfer of Bremen and Yerden, was already
completely settled. Only some little, trifling disputes,
in which George's Hanoverian ministers, greatly to
Carteret's disgust, were constantly interfering, still re-
mained open. These German ministers, with their
miserable little chicanery and the interrupting pettiness
of their letters to Bassewitz, were a mere nuisance and
hindrance. Ever since the negotiations had begun,
their trickery and knavery had been meddling and

TT 2

52 LORD CARTEliET

thwarting ; and their continued interference, in such
comphcated circumstances, was becoming dangerous.
On some of 'the endless little diplomatic diiferences they
sent orders to Bassemtz to answer dilatorie ; ' for which
I don't know an Enghsh word.' writes Carteret sarcas-
tically. • What can a minister do under such orders ?
These people desire a plain and positive answer.' Berns-
dorf, one of the chief of these heavy Hanoverian func-
tionaries, ventured, not kno"\ving his man, to ser:d some
of what Carteret called liis 'trifling stuff' to Carteret
himself. ' I regarded that advice,' C arteret wrote to
Stanliope, ' as an honest man should do, vdih great
contempt.' If the treaty had been in Carteret's pro-
\ince, he plainly says that he would have ventured to
sign and accept it at once. As it was, he could do
httle more than stand aside and disdainfully wait till
rapacious Hanoverians unwillingly concluded that the
field of possible plunder was exhausted. When even
Hanoverian hopes found it useless to struggle for a
single sliilling more, the treaty was at last absolutely
signed on Xovember 20, 1719, and so one at least of
the diplomatic arrangements was made as safe as such
things commonly are.

So far the ground was cleared ; the Electoral rub-
bish was out of the way, and room was made for roval
negotiations. Carteret now took up his character of
ambassador extraordinary ; and though, in considera-
tion of the suffering condition of Sweden, his audience
was private, he had yet, as his good friend^ the Queen
and Prince assured him, made the best pM->ible entry,
for he had approached the Queen with a friendly fleet.
Carteret at once earnestly turned to the completion of
Sweden's treaties of peace with England and with
Prussia. He was quite wiUing to let these two treaties

DIPLOMACY 53

run hand in hand, if Prussia would act harmoniously
in such an arrangement ; and at first it seemed that
Prussia would do so. When the Prussian minister,
Cnyphausen, arrived at Stockholm in October 1719,
Carteret had worked so well and successfully that the
final treaty was really ready for signature. Cnyphau-
sen, though privately he had very extensive views,
showed himself quite inclined to act on the basis which
Carteret had prepared for him, and there were hopes
that all would soon be finished. Difiiculties did not
seem at all insurmountable. Cnyphausen himself pre-
sented a project of arrangement ; the Swedish ministers
on their side did the same ; and out of these two plans
Carteret, assisted by the French minister Campredon,
formed a third, apparently to the satisfaction of all
parties. Two or three meetings would be sufiicient,
thought Carteret, to finish matters ; and he kept back
his own treaty with Sweden out of consideration for
the King of Prussia.

Things had gone so well and so far, that before the
end of 1719 Carteret was able to assure the Queen that
the arrangement was practically ready. But suddenly
Cnyphausen declared that he could not stand to his agree-
ment. Contrary to his promise to Carteret and to Cam-
predon, Cnyphausen had sent home to Berlin the project
which the Swedish ministers had presented to him. The
French and the English ministers had both assured him
that this proposed plan should be altered entirely to
his satisfaction, and that what he found objectionable
in it was entirely due to the very roundabout manner
in which Sweden performed its official business. Yet
Cnyphausen sent it home, and the King of Pi-ussia was
thrown into one of his fits of petidant bad temper. A
' little start of passion,' Carteret called it, and was

•54 LORD CABTERET

greatly perplexed by it. Cnyphausen would not sign,
and it seemed that the negotiation must be lost. Early
in January 1720, Carteret wrote to the English minister
"Whitworth, at Berlin, unfolding his perplexities : —

' I know but one way that is to be taken, in which I
see great hazards and difficulties too ; which is for me
to accept the treaty, as we have settled it, signed by the
plenipotentiaries, and finish my own. If I finish my own
without the King of Prussia's, his treaty is lost. If I
don't finish mine, the Queen and Prince and our friends
will have strange difficulties in the Assembly of the
States, which will certainly bring new difficulties upon
the King our master's treaty already signed. If !Mr.
Cm'phausen will sign the treaty, I am sure the States
Avill approve every step that has been taken. If they
have not my treaty to be laid before them, they will
approve none. What can I do "t 'lis in vain to ask.
The States assemble in fifteen days, before which time I
can have no answer from anybody. I would give a
good sum of money out of my own pocket to be well
out of these circumstances. I don't care for bold strokes,
and yet I have lived by nothing else here. Since I
must venture, I will do that which is honestest. finish
my treaty, and keep my word to the Queen and Prince,
who win suffer extremely (especially the Prince, to whom
our master has great obhgatious) if I don"t keep my
Avord. This is what I can best answer to myself; and I
hope everybody, especially our master and his ministers,
wiU hkewise think it the wisest thing I can do in these
difficult circumstances, since it is the honestest.'

Carteret, who had thought aU his risks were over,
thu.^ found himself in as intricate a case as ever. The
Enghsh treaty must be signed before the meetino- of the
Estates, or there would be endless fault-finding and re-

DIPLOMACY 55

proaclies from the Assembly. The Prussian treaty, if
not signed at the same time, would be referred to a
Congress, which was planned to meet (though happily
it never did) at Brunswick, and possibly would be lost
altogether. In such circumstances, Carteret thought
that it would be his wisest, though somewhat venture-
some, plan to accept on his own responsibility the
Prussian treaty as it stood, though only Swedish, and no
Prussian, signatures were attached to it, and so to give
Frederick William at least the chance of finally accept-
ing or rejecting it as he pleased. Cnyphausen, personally,
had no real fault to find with the treaty, though his
hands were so vexatiously tied up ; and privately he
acknowledged that Carteret could not do otherAvise than
he proposed. On the first day of February 1720 Car-
teret accordingly signed the two treaties ; his own com-
plete in all points ; the King of Prussia's still unfixed,
and to be restored by Carteret to the Swedes as cancelled,
if Frederick William should not ratify it within six
weeks. England undertook to subsidise Sweden so long
as the Northern war might last, and to assist her against
Eussia by the presence of an English fleet in the Baltic.
The pith of the Prussian treaty was the surrender of
Stettin and its dependent towns by Sweden, while
Prussia, in its turn, agreed to pay a sum of two
million florins. A curious little instance of Frederick
William's economics came out in the course of the
negotiations. He stipulated that the waggons and
horses which brought the Prussian money should be
precisely paid for. ' So minute a particular,' wrote
Carteret, ' has hardly ever been inserted in a treaty to
be made between two crowns.'

The day after the signing of these two treaties, the
Swedish session began. Carteret wrote home an account

66 LOBD CABTEBET

of the opening, at which he was present. The fornaal
ministerial speakers were followed by the spokesmen
for the different orders ; one each for the nobihty, the
clergy, and the burghers : —

' And then the Peasant, who was chosen speaker by
that Estate, who did very well, and made a compliment
to the Prince for the care he had taken last campaign
in the defence of the country. . . . Every one of the
Estates sat apart in divisions prepared for them. They
were in number not above six hundred. They were near
two thousand together the last year. There are fifteen
hundred famihes of the nobihty. The chief of the
family only sits in the House, and they give their
proxies as we do. There is not one in ten of them
that has not served his country as a soldier.'

Much to Carteret's satisfaction, there were soon
signs that Frederick WiUiam would accept the treaty
for which Carteret had laboured so hard. Well within
the prescribed six weeks the ratification arrived, and
Carteret's bold move had turned out perfectly successful.
After further diplomatic formahties, the ratifications
were exchanged and the thing ended, a fact which
Carteret after all the interminable proceedings declared
he could hardly have believed had he not seen it with
his own eyes. On March 20, 1720, heralds proclaimed
in the streets of Stockholm that peace was made between
Sweden, Hanover, and Prussia. ' It was the new queen
of Sweden, L'lrique Eleanora (Charles's younger sister,
wedded to the young Landgraf of Hesseu-Cassel), — much
aided by an Enghsli Envoy, — who made this peace with
Friedrich AVilhelm. A young English envoy, called
Lord Carteret, was very helpful in tliis matter ; one of
his first feats in the diplomatic world.' ^

' C'urlyle's Frederick, Book IV., Chap. Yl.

DIPLOMACY 57

So three of the five pieces of work which Carteret
had come to do were successfully finished. A fourth,
the reconciliation between Sweden and Eussia, he never
had the chance of attempting, for the Czar had at once
refused the mediation which Carteret in England's name
had offered him. The fifth, the peace with Denmark,
the most wearisome and obstinate of all, had been
languidly dragging on its shghtly tiresome existence
during these slow months of Prussian negotiating.
Carteret had managed in October 1719 to arrange a
six months' armistice between Denmark and Sweden,
but that was practically about all that had been accom-
plished. The Danes had taken Malstrand, and claimed
to keep it. Eugen and Stralsund they also held, handed
over to them by Frederick William, who had captured
them. These too the Danes would keep, or, on lowest
terms, Sweden should give an equivalent in land else-
where for their restoration. And they had possession
of Sleswick, from which they had driven Charles the
Twelfth's friend, the Duke of Holstein. Further the
Danes demanded that Sweden should resign a long-
enjoyed privilege, and should pay toll for her ships that
passed the Sound as other nations did. Such were
Denmark's chief requirements, and they seemed to
Sweden altogether intolerable. Exorbitant and absurd
demands, Carteret called them ; and for a considerable
time he saw small likelihood of a satisfactory arrange-
ment. Sweden might possibly surrender Sleswick,
might consent to pay toll at the Sound, and might even
offer money to make Eugen and Stralsund her own again,
but little more than that seemed practicable. Yet the
Danish Court was very obstinate, thinking it had but to
insist strongly and could not fail to obtain ; and though
Lord Pohvarth (afterwards Earl of Marchmont, English

58 LOBD CARTERET

ambassador at Copenhagen while Carteret was m
Sweden) was able in some degree to reduce the Danish
demands, the prospects of a settlement were not en-
couraging. ' I shall do my best to bring all to a happy-
conclusion,' wrote Carteret to Stanhope in the course of
these Danish negotiations, ' and though I foresee great
difficulties in the way, I have gone through worse and
will not despair.' Months however passed on, and even
Carteret began seriously to think of leaving Sweden and
wasting no more time on what appeared a hopeless
undertaking.

A sHght impulse was given to the languid proceed-
ings by the appointment of a Danish minister to treat
at the Swedish Court. Carteret worked most indefatig-
ably noAv, to obtain, before the Danish negotiator should
arrive, a definite and final settlement of what Sweden
would and would not grant, hoping that the Danes too
would draw up their plan in a similarly serious spirit.
With great difficulty he persuaded Sweden to grant one
pressing demand of Denmark, and to pay toll at the
Sound. Sweden also consented that France and
England should decide the fate of Sleswiek, and that
the Danes might reckon MaLtrand theh-s till the sign-
ing of a definite treaty ; but the Swedes could not agree
to part with EUgen and Stralsund. These concessions
were practically the Swedish prehminary for peace, and
were only obtained by Carteret's ceaseless efibrts. It
soon became clear that if they were to have any definite
result, the remainder of these negotiations must be
managed and adjusted at Copenliagen itself The Danish
ambassador, Major-General Lewenohr, did indeed
arrive at Stockholm in March 1720 ; but it was
shrewdly suspected that he had no intention of con-
cluding an arrangement. The Danes, indeed, plainly

DIPLOMACY 59

hinted that he had been sent only out of complaisance
to the King of England. ' They have a very pleasant
manner of showing their respect,' wrote Carteret rather
annoyedly ; and he resolved that, unless the ambassador
clearly showed from the very first a sincere desire to
come to terms, he would himself quit Stockholm at
once. If however he found any real evidence of Danish
sincerity, Carteret, though heartily tired of the whole
business, was resolute to leave nothing untouched that
might contribute to a settlement.

In accordance with his resolution, Carteret had
early interviews with Lewenohr at Stockholm, and find-
ing that the ambassador's instructions were impracticable,
he prepared to leave Sweden. Lewenohr at once de-
clared that if Carteret went, he himself would also go.
This once more made Carteret's situation an anxious
one. If they both left, the whole negotiation would be
thrown into the air. There remained now but a very
few weeks of the six months' armistice, and if no treaty
were made the war must break out asjain. Eather
than risk such a possibility by any precipitate action of
his own, Carteret gave Denmark one chance more.
Lewenohr (whom Carteret personally liked, and whose
own private intentions were good) promised to write
decisively to his Court at once, and Carteret undertook
to await the Danish reply. Meanwhile, urged Lewenohr
on Carteret, could not Sweden, besides the promises in
its preliminary arrangement, be induced to give Den-
mark a consideration in money ? ' He said that the
King of Denmark would never make his peace without
a sum of money, unless he was forced to it. He asked
me frankly if we intended to force him into the prelim-
inary. I answered that we would persuade him. He
said that was a civil way of speaking, but might pes-

60 LOBD CARTEBET

sibly mean the same thing. I added, that he was too
jealoiis.'

Carteret and Lewenohr both awaited anxiously, and
somewhat hopefully, the letter from Denmark. But
within the reasonable time no letter came, and Carteret,
as he had said he would do, began to make his pre-
parations for departing. Once more however he Avas
delayed. Lord Polwarth at Copenhagen sent hopes that
though the armistice Avas noAV so nearly over, all might
yet go well; and Carteret, who was exceedingly desirous
to do nothing to endanger even the faintest possibility of
success, was induced on this information still to prolong
his stay. He even persuaded the Swedes to accept a
compromise on the chief point which remained in dis-
pute, and to agree to pay a sum of money to Denmark.
Xot enough, said Lewenohr ; but Carteret declined to do
anything more ; and, having Ijrought matters so far,
decided to take a definite and final step on his own re-
sponsibility, as he had once already done with success.
The armistice had been informally prolonged, and
Carteret now thought he saw peace A^dthin reach at
last, ' of which once I very much doubted ; but yet would
never despaii', nor quit the station, while there was
the least fight to carry us through.' If Lewenohr
would not join Carteret in drawing up and signing a
treaty of peace, then Carteret said that he would enter
into a conference Avith the Swedes bv liimself; and,
ha\nng done all he possibly could for Denmark, would
venture to do what he had already done in the ca=e of
Prussia and, accepting tlie treaty himself on behalf of
the two countries, would leave to the King of Denmark
the responsibility of rejecting the terms which the
n;iediatifin of England had j^rocuredfor him. LewenTihr,
in his heart thinking that Carteret wa^ rifht. as mimster

DIPLOMACY 61

found himself compelled to object ; taking all the pro-
posals of the Swedes merely ad referendum, ' which
cursed word,' says Carteret, ' has kept me here these
four months.' Carteret therefore vigorously com-
menced single action, and on June 14, 1720, just a year
after he had left England, signed the treaty between
Sweden and Denmark. As in the case of Prussia, he
had some anxiety about the step he was taking, but
pretty confidently hoped for success. Indeed the King
of Denmark himself seemed already to approve what
Carteret had done, and invited him to come direct to
himself at Fredericksburg, without passing through
Copenhagen.

Carteret had now accompUshed all that he could do
in Sweden, and was ready to leave at last. He took the
kindest farewells of his friends — the Queen, for whom
he had clearly a chivalrous regard, and the Prince, who
by this time had become the Bang ; and on June 24,
1720, left Stockholm at night for Fredericksburg, arriv-
ing there before the end of the month. He was received
at the palace with every possible mark of distinction,
and lost no time in attempting to put the finishing
touch to his protracted and intricate business. On the
day after his arrival he explained to the King what he
had ventured to do, and reasoned with him upon the
general condition of affau's. The King seemed not dis-
satisfied with Carteret's conduct ; but the Danish minis-
ters had many objections to make. Two conferences
with them led to nothing ; but, suddenl)', on the fourth
day after Carteret's arrival at Fredericksburg, the treaty
was accepted almost in the exact terms which he had
settled at Stockholm. The manner in which this was
brought about was, as Carteret said, singular. After
Carteret's second conference with the ministers, he dined

62 LOBD CABTEIiET

with the Khig, and. in reply to questions, informed him
of the great difficulties which the Danish statesmen were
putting in the ^ysij. The dinner over, Carteret rode out
with the King to see his stud, and during that Httle
excursion he found several opportunities of discussing
these points of difficulty with Frederick himself.
Eeturning to the palace, the King took Carteret up with
him to his private apartment, and seriously urged one
point upon him. Would the King of England definitely
guarantee to him the peaceable possession of Sleswick ?
Would George procure for him an absolute cession of
it, and so protect him against possible disturbance from
the ousted Duke of Holstein? Carteret answered as
carefully as he could, but had no authority to make such
an engagement, and, indeed, dwelt on the comparative
needlessness of it, seeing that the King already held
Sleswick by right of conquest ; a fairly satisfactory
method, added Carteret, ' whatever the lawyers and
pedants may say to it.'

Frederick did not press the matter further upon
Carteret as ambassador, but was content to urge him to
use his influence privately with George in regard to it.
This Carteret readily undertook to do, and the King
then immediately replied that he accepted the treaty.
The ministers were at once called in, and in Carteret's
presence, to their complete surprise, were informed that
the whole thing was finished.

Little more now remained for Carteret to do. The
very trifling alterations which had been made in the
treaty were readily agreed to by the Court of Sweden ;
Stanhope, at Hanover, and the ministers in London were
full of congratulations on the state of aflairs, and Car-
teret's personal credit rose high. At Copenhagen, where
he now was with the King, it was noticed that no foreign

DIPLOMACY G3

minister had ever been so well treated as Carteret.
' Milord,' said Frederick to him one day, ' comme par
voire entremise j'ai fait la paix, et qu'a cette heure me.'^
amies me sont inutiles, pennettez-moi que je vous fasse
prevent de mon I'pee '; handing to him a sword valued at
20,000 crowns, specially made for the occasion. He
went on hunting expeditions with the King at Freder-
icksburg ; made a military tour with him in Zealand,
and in every way was treated with most unusual kind-
ness. But he was desirous to get away from it all. His
private affairs, after so long an absence, required his
examination. He was also not quite sure what his exact
public situation might be. While he was still at Stock-
holm he had had the offer of the English embassy at Paris ;
while he was at Copenhagen he was appointed to go
Avith Stanhope to the Congress of Cambrai. Neither of
the projects was to take effect, but Carteret could not fore-
see that, and was anxious to be able to begin his neces-
sary preparations. One thing only detained him at
Copenhagen : France, which through all these northern
negotiations had been working as fellow-mediator with
England, was somewhat slow in ratifying this last treaty
between Denmark and Sweden. Till this was done, the
affair was not absolutely and technically settled, and
Carteret, therefore, waited on. The waiting proved so
unexpectedly wearisome that, on the announcement in
September 1720 of his appointment to Cambrai, Car-
teret desired to take leave of the King of Denmark ; but
Frederick would not part with him till all was actually
finished, and politely waved the leave-taking aside.
Weeks passed, and still France delayed. Frederick began
to lose his good-humour, and Sweden to fear that all
might yet be broken off. At last, but not until Den-
mark had seriously threatened the renewal of military

61 LOBD CABTEBET

preparations, near the end of October, Carteret received
the desired ratification. The very next day Denmark
formally accepted, and Carteret's seventeen months'
negotiating was at a successful end. He had his fare-
well audience of the King, and at once left to make his
way, over bad roads, by Osnabrlick and the Hague to
England. The Hague was reached by the end of
November ; but stormy, contrary winds kept him wait-
ing there many days. At last the fair wind came,
and on December 1-3 he sailed from Helvoetsluys for
home.

65

CHAPTEE III.

SECEETAEY OP STATE.

1721-1724.

English domestic affairs were in a very excited con-
dition when Carteret arrived in London. Two sen-
tences from Copenhagen letters of his own are concerned
with the cause of the pubhc confusion. In August,
1720 he wrote to a friend : ' My mother and wife have
also got something in the South Sea ; but they don't tell
me how much. I have had no letters from them this
month, but at that time their good fortune had been
considerable.' And again, two months later : ' I don't
know exactly how the fall of South Sea has affected my
family ; but they have lost considerably of what they
had once gained.' By the time that Carteret returned,
the decisive crash of the South Sea Company had come.
The big bubble burst like the thousand smaller ones, and
caused hardly less pohtical than social ruin. The nation,
with a rage almost equal to its credulous infatuation,
abused the King, demanded the blood of the directors, and
fiercely turned against those members of the Government
who could be made to feel the weight of its passionate,
self-inflicted disappointment. Against Aislabie, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the outcry was particu-
larly keen. He was expelled and sent to the Tower,
amid the bonfires of the bitterly rejoicing city. Sunder-
land was head of the Government ; Craggs was Secretary

F

66 LORD CABTEBET

of State. The secret committee of the Commons re-
ported against each of them. Fortunately, perhaps, for
himself, Craggs died on the very day on which the
report was presented ; and Sunderland, though cleared
by a large majority, yielded to the popular clamour and
resigned. Stanhope, the other Secretary, defended the
ministry in the House of Lords so eagerly that he made
himself ill, and next day died.

The ministry was practically destroyed. Two
Secretaries of State had died within little more than a
week of each other, Walpole, having found himself
unable to weaken Stanhope's Government, had, with
unembarrassed inconsistency, rejoined it as an inferior ;
and the unanimous voice of the nation now demanded
that he should return to power to repair the ruined
finances. With him came back his brother-in-law,
Townshend, to take Stanhope's empty place. Thus
Walpole and Townshend had almost dramatically
complete revenge for the intrigues of Stanhope and
Sunderland at Hanover, some two or three years
before. In the now remodelled Government room was
made for Carteret. Sunderland, though practically
driven from office, kept with no diminution at all his
influence and reputation with the King ; and it was
through Sunderland that Carteret was appointed to the
office vacant by the death of Craggs. In March 1721
Carteret received the seals as Secretary of State for
the Southern department. He was only thirty-one,
and ought, as Swift said, to have been busily losing
his money at a chocolate-house ; but he had already
had ten years' parhamentary and pohtical experience.
Another office had been destined for him. He had
actually been appointed ambassador extraordinary to
France, and was on the point of starting, when the

SECBETABY OF STATE 67

collapse of tlie ministry altered that and many other
arrangements of the English political world. As Carteret
himself wrote, the sudden death of his two best friends
changed his destiny. It is not probable that a life of
diplomacy would have been pleasing to him. He had
already had brilliant success in that department ; but
he had also had sufficient experience of its vexations
and difficulties, especially annoying to a man of an
actively practical mind, with a genius for work. To
be a member of the Government in London was doubt-
less preferable to Carteret, and his selection for one of
the leading posts in the Cabinet is a proof of the high
estimate which had already been formed of his ability.
Needless to say that the selection was not made by
Walpole, who dreaded nothing so much as talents in
those with whom he had to share his rule. In Walpole's
Government to be a mediocrity was to be safe. But
Carteret could not be a political nonentity or a mere
clerk to do Walpole's unquestioned bidding. Walpole's
frightened jealousy would tolerate nothing else ; and
after three years Carteret accordingly had to go, as
Pulteney was to go, and Townshend, and Chesterfield,
and many less distinguished men than these. Men of
genius and Walpole could not long work harmoniously
together ; a ridiculous Duke of Newcastle, a middling
Harrington or Hardwicke, suited Walpole's purposes, as
no abler man might hope to do.

The management of foreign affairs was at this period
entrusted — subject to the direct personal interference of
the King — to two Secretaries of State, who divided
Europe between them. To the Secretary for the North
fell the Scandinavian kingdoms, with Russia, Prussia,
Hanover ; to the Secretary for the South, mainly the
other and more important parts of Europe. Newcastle

F 2

68 LOBD CABTEBET

was Northern Secretary, and, in his absurd way, believed
that Hanover, included in his department, must there-
fore be north of England. Carteret, as Southern Secre-
tary, had the direction of the negotiations with France,
Spain, Austria, and the various princes in Italy ; and as
affairs between England and all these powers were in a
most complicated condition when he entered office, it
seemed likely that Carteret would have hardly a less
leading part in pacifying the South than he had already
had in arrangingf the North. At the same time he had
to take a leading part in support of the Government at
home, for his abilities as a speaker caused much of the
work in the House of Lords to fall upon him. But his
main business was with foreign affairs.

The Emperor of Germany was Charles VI. He had
been one of the claimants for the Spanish crown in the
war of the Spanish Succession. As a lad of eighteen, on
his way to Spain to call himself King there, he had been
received with all pomp by Queen Anne at Windsor, and
had stayed there three days, grave, modest, silent.
England and Marlborough had fought for him ; Peter-
borough had done knight-errantry for him in Spain ;
and it had all resulted in nothing. He had become
Emperor while the Succession war was still unfinished ;
King of Spain he never became. And when England,
in a somewhat singular manner, and with very base
treatment of Marlborough, discovered that she had had
enough of the war and made the Peace of Utrecht with
Louis XIV., Charles took it almost as a personal affront.
He would have nothing whatever to do with the peace ;
would go on with the war alone ; and even tried to
do so for a time, till he saw it was hopeless. He found
himself compelled to make his peace with Spain ; but
though he lost all chance of its throne, he still cluno-

SECBETARY OF STATE 69

desperately to the title. Here was one leading trouble
of his ; and another question, still more important to
him, was just at this time forcing itself upon his notice.
He had no son ; who was to succeed him ? Very pri-
vately, in this same year of the Utrecht peace, he had
drawn up the document afterwards too well known as
the Pragmatic Sanction, declaring fixedly that if sons
altogether failed him, daughters should be equally good
to succeed to his hereditary possessions. When Carteret
became English Secretary of State, the existence of this
Pragmatic Sanction was already pretty generally known,
and it was the great toil of the Emperor's life to per-
suade Europe to accept it.

In Spain the nominal Sovereign was Louis XIV. 's
grandson, the Bourbon Phihp V., crazy in brain and
broken in constitution, desiring nothing, said Alberoni,
but a wife and a prayer-book. The real Sovereign was
Philip's second wife, Elizabeth Farnese, a very fiery
Italian woman, who singularly falsified gently patronis-
ing predictions concerning her. A good girl she had
been called when it became necessary to find a second
wife for Spain — fat with the butter and the milk of the
Picentine, addicted to nothing more emphatic than
needlework and embroidery. Things proved very
different. For years she kept Europe in a state of
delirious agitation. She had an infant son, Don Carlos
by name, a child who was not the heir to the Spanish
throne. For years too wearisome to think of this
entirely superfluous infant was the greatest nuisance in
Europe. Nothing would satisfy his mother till certain
Italian Duchies — Tuscany, Parma, Piacenza — should be
handed over to him ; but the Emperor was feudal
superior of the Duchies, and to gain his consent to
Elizabeth's desired arrangement proved difficult almost

70 LOBD CARTE BET

to impossibility. Demands and refusals caused a con-
tinual bickering between the two potentates, who kept
Europe in a state of constant alarm, and terribly
agitated the interestingly delicate balance of power.
Even when the Emperor was forced to agree, in a
sullen sort of way, to the Treaty of Utrecht, and so to
peace with Spain, the quarrel was by no means settled.
Charles did not even acknowledge Philip as King of
Spain — far less would he permit Spanish troops to
garrison the Italian Duchies, and keep them warm for
the infant till his time should come. Charles would
not hear of such a thing ; and Elizabeth, backed by
Alberoni, began to make serious preparations for war.

The Emperor took alarm at Elizabeth's doings, and
a series of treaties and counter-treaties followed, designed
to give, if possible, some feeling of security to Europe
in its state of agitated uncertainty. The first of these
arrangements was a reconciliation between Charles and
England, signed at Westminster. Xext came the agree-
ment between England and France, which busied Dubois
and Stanhope at Hanover and the Hague. Third followed
the Triple Alliance between England, Erance, and Hol-
land, settled in January 1717, mainlj- intended to arrange
the points in dispute between Charles and Elizabeth.
Charles, mortified by this alliance — for it guaranteed
the peace of Utrecht, which secured Spain to Phihp —
refused at first to come into it, but alarm at EKzabeth's
Spanish preparations soon brought him to terms. Thus
the Triple Alliance was, in the summer of 1718, made
quadruple, and if now Spain could be induced to join,
and the arrangement so become quintuple, the thing
might be looked upon as satisfactorily settled. But
this was the point where the real diiEculty began.
The terms of the Quadruple Alliance seemed altogether
unendurable to Spain. Don Carlos was indeed to be

SECRETARY OF STATE 71

recognised as eventual heir to the desired Italian
Duchies, and the Emperor agreed to grant that Philip
was King of Spain. But on the other hand no Spanish
troops were to be admitted into Italy, and Charles was
expressly allowed to appropriate Sicily — King Victor
of Sicily by way of compensation receiving Sardinia,
which a Spanish fleet had recently taken from the Em-
peror himself. Other points of dispute were left over
to be settled at a Congress at Cambrai, where France
and England were to mediate between the two quarrel-
ling powers.

Three months were granted to Spain in which to
accept this treaty. Stanhope went to Paris and to
Madrid to try to secure a settlement ; an English fleet
was fitted out for the Mediterranean ; strong arguments
for peace were brought to bear on Alberoni. But
Spain would not listen, and, rather than accept the
terms which had been sorted out for her, impetuously
ventured into something very like war. Here was
the first slight outbreak of a war — always con-
fused and complicated, sometimes almost meaningless,
which in very varying forms and circumstances was
the plague of Europe for thirty years to come. A
Spanish fleet sailed from Barcelona, made for Sicily,
and attacked and took Messina. But Byng was there
with his English ships ready to help the Emperor to
recover his island. On the 10th of August, 1718, in
the roads of Messina, Byng fell upon the Spanish fleet,
and practically annihilated it, the Spaniards themselves
being now besieged in the town of which they had
hardly yet got complete possession. This was a very
severe and quite unexpected blow to Spain ; the begin-
ning of the end of Cardinal Alberoni, and a mortifying
check to his fiery mistress. In England the news was
received with great satisfaction, and it was Carteret

72 LORD CARTERET

who, when parliament met in November, moved in the
Lords the address of thanks to the King, congratulating
him on the aUiance with the French Eegent, and on the
success of Admiral Byng. Other events rapidly fol-
lowed, all of an unfortunate nature for Spain. England
declared war before the year was over, and made a
successful descent on Vigo. The Spaniards were forced
to evacuate Sicily. France discovered a Spanish plot
against the Eegent, and at once declared war. A
Spanish invasion of England in favour of the Pretender
had been projected, and an expedition actually sailed
from Cadiz, but it was scattered and ruined by a storm.
These accumulated misfortunes, and the sudden death
of Charles XII. of Sweden, compelled Spain, threatened
on all sides by the united hostihty of England, France,
and the Emperor, to yield to the terms which Europe
offered. Alberoni was dismissed at the end of 1719,
and in February 1720 Spain joined the Quadruple
Alliance. The war, such as it had been, was over for
the time, and a Congress at Cambrai hoped to bring
things to a final settlement. Such was the state of
European affairs when Carteret became Secretary of
State for the Southern Department.

At the Cambrai congress England and France were
to be mediators between the Emperor and Spain, but
before the pacific proceedings could begin there were
many difficulties to remove, and these difficulties were
sometimes seemingly insuperable. At the very outset
there was considerable doubt if France was perfectlv
sincere in its alhance with England. Carteret's foreign
pohcy was a continuation and development of his late
friend Earl Stanhope's, and he was anxious, as he him-
self wrote to the Archbishop of Cambrai, to strengthen
between the two countries the alliance which Stanliope

SECRETARY OF STATE 73

had done so much to bring about. But at the same
time Carteret's letters to his friend Schaub, the Enghsh
ambassador at Paris, show that his confidence in Arch-
bishop Dubois was very far from perfect. Carteret,
writing to Dubois, promised from himself fairness and
candour in his deaUngs, and hoped for the same in re-
turn ; but smooth words alone from France would go
but a moderate length with him. Proof of sincerity by
action was what Carteret wanted, and it happened that
there was a pressing question in agitation at this time
between England and Spain which might very fairly
test the reahty of French professions. This was the
question of Gibraltar — a question which must be satis-
factorily solved before England and Spain could
harmoniously enter the Congress together.

Earl Stanhope had been of opinion that Gibraltar
might, on reasonable terms, be restored to Spain, and
as an inducement to Spain to join the Quadruple Alli-
ance the French Government had promised to use what
influence it had with England on this matter. But
when the plan had been mentioned in England, both
parhament and the nation had opposed it with excited
determination, and by the time that Carteret entered
office the English Government had firmly decided that
the fortress must be kept. Yet Spain, whose hopes
had been raised high, seemed equally resolved ; and
here for Carteret was a preliminary difficulty which
must be removed before there could be anything like
reconciliation between the two countries. A proof of
the reality of French friendship was fortunately given
when the Regent was brought to agree that England
might fairly insist on the renewal of her treaties with
Spain — Avhich had been broken off by the war — with-
out touching on the Gibraltar question at all. Yet it

74 LOBD CABTEBET

seemed very doubtful if Spain would yield its point.
Spain harped on the promise of restoration which she
insisted that Earl Stanhope had given, and ventured to
demand a definite and formal assurance that Gibraltar
should be surrendered before she would settle any other
point whatever with England. But even the Court of
Spain soon discovered that it was worse than useless to
adopt a tone of this kind. The English ambassador
at Madrid, Mr. Stanhope (better known afterwards as
the Earl of Harrington), plainly declared that England
would rather carry on the war for ten years longer
than either give up Gibraltar now or definitely promise
to do so in the future. Spain therefore made another
proposal. Let the King of England make a conditional
promise of the restoration, the conditions being that
Spain should ofier an equivalent to England, and the
English parliament give its consent. George, who
himself was personally indifferent about the thing, did
write such a conditional letter to the King of Spain — ■
his ministers knowing well that it was a mere empty
form, for parliament would never sanction the sur-
render. If such a letter, utterly meaningless on the
English side, would materially assist the negotiations
on hand, there was no reason why it should not be sent.
England even w^ent further ; for when the irritable
Court of Spain, having obtained this letter, querulously
insisted that the equivalent should be left out, George
wrote again in June 1721, yielding to their pettish irri-
tation. So long as the consent of parliament was
insisted upon, what else might or might not be men-
tioned was to England a matter of complete indiiference.
Carteret saw that Spain would not yield with a good
grace ; let her yield with a bad one, then, since her
notions of deportment were of no practical significance.

SEGBETABY OF STATE 75

The signing of tlie treaty between England and
Spain followed, and the ground was cleared somewhat
for the approaching Congress. Stanhope, who was
cordially assisted by Carteret, had great difficulties to
overcome before the signatures were actually affixed.
The Spanish Court was almost unendurably dilatory in
its manner of transacting public business ; and when
the English ambassador opposed its impossible preten-
sions, the fiery Queen herself burst out upon him that
he was an enemy of peace, and anxious, because he was
a soldier himself, to obtain a continuance of the war.^
But Stanhope took it all patiently, and Carteret was
glad to see the firmness and prudence of the relative of
his own late friend. The treaty was successfully signed
at Madrid (June 13, 1721), and on that same day an-
other piece of preparation for the Congress was also
made. This was an alhance between England, France,
and Spain, to be kept, if possible, a secret from the
Emperor tiU the Cambrai Congress was well over. It
was hoped that this arrangement might be something
of a guarantee for the preservation of peace, and that
if all remonstrances and reasonings with the Emperor
at Cambrai should fail, the discovery that he -had an
alliance of the three crowns to contend with might be
more effectual with him than any other argument could
be. These two treaties were settled together, and so
far things seemed to promise fairly well.

But there were hardly fewer preliminary difficulties
to overcome on the Austrian side ; difficulties so great
that the advisabiHty of doing without the Congress
altogether was seriously discussed. The petty points
which were painfully magnified till they overshadowed

' Stanhope to Carteret, May 29, 1721. Brit. Mus., Add. MSS. 22,520 ;
fol. 105,

70 LOBD CABTEBET

things of real importance, the ponderous stolidity with
Avhich disappointed persons insisted on clinging to the
shadow of the substance which they had lost, must have
vividly reminded Carteret of many of his experiences in
Sweden and in Denmark. The Emperor's ambassador
in London was an old man, and at times of a very bad
humour ; and his petulant outbursts, though they re-
ceived no practical attention from Carteret, who took
them simply as things which must be put up with, were
a hindrance and a danger to the negotiations. Instead
of plain honesty and prudent discretion, there were
diplomatic mystifications and so-called fine pohtical
strokes which, much as the contrary has been stated,
Carteret both hated and despised. His real pohtical
genius, accompanied by calm and complete knowledge,
turned instinctively from the mock-mysteries which
appeal in a singularly similar way to the flightily clever
and to the solemnly stupid. Carteret was simply
annoyed when diplomatic persons insisted on treating
the excrescences of a subject as if they were the essen-
tial point itself. The excrescences of the dispute be-
tween Austria and Spain, though small, were intricate
and obstinately troublesome ; and besides these there
were two or three prehminary questions on which the
diplomatic arguing and despatching was almost endless.
One of these points was the so-called question of the
titles. The Emperor obstinately clung to the title of
King of Spain, and even, by distributing the Order of the
Golden Fleece, seemed resolved to make the title some-
what more than nominal only. On the other hand, the
King of Spain insisted on caUing himself Archduke of
Austria and Count of Hapsburg. Xominal only, for the
mere honour of the thing, the Spanish minister at
Madrid assured Stanhope, just as the King of England

SEGBETARY OF STATE 77

still called himself King of France ; the minister insinuat-
ing, in a shghtly malicious way, that that also was
a title the reality of which was not perfectly plain to
everybody. Then there was the question of the letters
of investiture, the Emperor's formal pledge of the re-
version of the Itahan Duchies to Don Carlos. Austria
was exceedingly slow over this matter ; the Emperor,
indeed, for whom Byng's sea-fight had secured Sicily,
had in that way acquired all that he himself could gain,
and was in no hurry to redeem the promises which
he had given when he joined the Quadruple Alliance.
The Austrian minister in London continually assured
Carteret that these investitures were being prepared, but
nothing more convincing than this reiterated formality
was forthcoming. And, as a third point, Spain espe-
cially desired that Don Carlos and a sufficient number
of Spanish troops might at once enter Italy. The Duke
of Tuscany was old ; his son was in bad health ; the
actual presence of the Spanish infant in Italy would be
better than any other guarantee of the Emperor's sin-
cerity. But here again the Austrian reply was merely
dilatory and evasive. To add to all these tedious dif-
ficulties, there were even hints that Spain, in spite of
the treaty so lately made with England, was anxious to
moot again the question of Gibraltar. Carteret so firmly
put his foot down on this that nothing more was heard
of it ; but the various questions in vexed dispute seemed
so unlikely to be settled before the meeting of the
Congress, and so dangerous to touch at the Congress
itself, that to do without that assemblage altogether
began to seem to some by far the safer plan. This
was the hint and proposal of Archbishop, now Cardinal,
Dubois, a hint Avhich might be acted on, thought and
hoped Carteret. Spain itself showed no anxiety to meet

78 LORD CABTEBET

Europe in Council, for Spain had no sincere desire
for peace ; and tlie Emperor could not hope to come
out of a Congress practically any better off than when
he had entered it. Carteret, writing to Schaub, de-
clared the conviction of the EngUsh ministers that, in
the complete absence of any even elementary under-
standing between the two powers, a Congress, instead of
procuring a peace, would be only the signal for the
beginning of a new war.

Unfortunately, it was found impossiljle to do with-
out the Congress. The Emperor, though as yet he
knew nothing of the secret treaty between England,
France, and Spain, had already become suspiciously
sensitive, and vaguely feared the completion of some
arrangement contrary to his own interests. By the end
of 1721, nearly two years after Spain had joined the
Quadruple Alliance and the Congress had been pro-
posed, Charles resolved at once to send his ministers to
Cambrai, and then to call them home again if the Con-
gress did not open. Enghsli ministers were also therefore
appointed, that no blame for delay might rest on
England. Lord Whitworth, ambassador at Berlin, and
Lord Pohvarth, minister at Copenhagen, were chosen
for the dreary work. But Carteret had not much
hope of any satisfactory result. He foresaw that it
would be impossible to satisfy both the Emperor and
Spain : he doubted — and his doubts Avere reahsed — if it
would be possible to satisfy either of them. England,
however, had accepted the part of mediator, and would
do Avhat she could to sustain it ; the union between
England and France might prove of some effectiveness,
and at least one could try. To hurry nothing, to watch
events carefuEy from day to day, to discountenance all
ambitious desire for elaborate and perhaps only artifi-

SECRETARY OF STATE 79

cial decisions, and to keep close to the alliance with
France, was all that Carteret's policy could at present
propose. To give any definite instructions to the pleni-
potentiaries was impossible ; for though through many
long months official persons of all kinds were crowding
into Cambrai, their meetings and discussions were as
yet all of the informal kind. No full powers could
be assumed, no definite Congress could be formally
constituted, till some preliminary arrangement between
Sjoain and Austria gave the negotiators firm ground to
go upon ; and it seemed as if this first arrangement
would never be made. It was actually nearly three
years before the Courts and diplomatists ended their
pedantic discussions and weaiisome delays. It was the
beginning of 1723 before the Emperor sent to
England the plan of the letters of investiture for Don
Carlos ; it was April before Carteret could write to
Polwarth and Whitworth that hopes of some conclusion
of this matter were coining after all. Six months more
passed before the slight necessary changes made in the
Austrian plan were agreed to at Vienna, and then at
length, the Congress being now ready to begin, in No-
vember 1723 Carteret signed the full powers for the
Enghsh plenipotentiaries at Cambrai. After all its
weary waiting the Congress was ready to open at last,
and here for the present we may gladly leave it.

Meanwhile, for the last six months, George had Ijeen
in Hanover. The Jacobite conspiracy known indiffer-
ently as Layer's, or as Atterbury's plot, had deprived
him of his usual visit to Germany the year befoi'e ; but
this summer things were quiet in England, and as soon
as parliament had risen, the Eing embarked, accompanied
by Carteret and Townshend. This seemingly common-
place visit to Hanover had very important results for

80 LOBD CABTEBET

Carteret. It gave Walpole an opportunity of which
he was not slow to avail himself; for jealousy of col-
leagues of abihty marked all Walpole's pohtical hfe,
and he had felt jealous of Carteret almost from the
moment of the formation of his ministry. Walpole,
son of a hard-drinking, sporting, cattle-breeding Xorfolk
squire, had had originally no intention in the parUa-
mentary way. He was onl)' a third son, destined, in
those Httle-scrupulous times, to find his way to fortune
by preferment in the Church. ' If I had not been
Prime ^linister, I should have been Archbishop of
Canterbury,' he used to say in later days. But he
became heir ; followed his father's ilhterate, drinking,
hard-hving ways, and got into Parhament for one of
the family seats. A coarse, noisy man ; no orator, no
scholar ; with no nearer approach to even a tincture of
hterature than the conventional possession of a few stale
tags from Horace. In his own hbrary at Houghton he
once found Henry Fox reading, and said to him : ' You
can read. It is a great happiness. I totally neglected
it while I was in business, which has been the whole of
my life, and to such a degree that I cannot now read a
page — a warning to aU ministers.'^ He opened his
gamekeeper's letters before all official or other corre-
spondence.^ But he was exceedingly industrious and
clear-headed ; a man of business and direct common
sense ; of great physical endurance and power of work ;
thoroughly understanding Parhament and his own aims
and intentions there. His aims were low and were
reached by low means ; yet the cynical frankness of his

' Lord Shelburne's Autobiography \ in Lord E. Fitzmaurice's Shelbwne,
I. 37.

^ .V Tei-y different man from ^Valpole, Viscount Althorp, 3rd Earl
Spencer, did something of the same kind. See Sir D. Le Marchant's Earl
H^Kmcer, p. h^'-'j.

SEGBETABY OF STATE 81

parliamentarj- corruption escapes much of its deserved
censure by its almost brutal freedom from hypocrisy.
Since that was the way the Government was carried on,
why pretend that it was not ? Walpole giving bribes
is a far less unpleasant .sight than many high-professing
pohticians receiving them.

What, in twenty years, did Walpole really do ? He
kept himself at the top of English political affairs.
Touching nothing that he could possibly leave alone,
giving way always rather than run the risk of any
serious parliamentary danger, he clung doggedly to the
power which he allowed no others to share with him.
Personally mild, good-natured, and in other matters even
carelessly indifferent, he worked for his o\vn individual
predominance in politics with a terribly intense deter-
mination. He spared no one who stood, as he thought,
in his way ; no one whose abilities, of a higher stamp
than his own, might possibly venture to dispute with
him the position which he had fixedly arrogated to him-
self Thus from the very first he had felt a dread of
Carteret. Carteret had become Secretary of State in
Walpole's Government in March 1721. In June of that
same year, Walpole opposed the election of a particular
member to the House of Commons, simply because
Carteret favoured it.^ One cause of Walpole's jealousy,
doubtless, was the fact that Carteret belonged to the
Sunderland and Stanhope sectiLin of the Whigs. A per-
son of a comparative turn of mind, who one day saw
Sunderland and Carteret, Walpole and Townshend, come
out of a coach together at Kensington, found himself
thinking of two cluelhsts arriving on the ground with
their seconds.^ Carteret could not be ignorant that

' Coxe's Walp<,le, II. 217.

- Brit. Mus. Sloaue :MSS. 4,163 ; fol. 2G0, v°.

G

82 LOBD CABTEBET

Walpole was rather his political enemy than his colleague.
A curious entry in Lord Marchmont's diary proves that
when Sunderland died, in April 1722, Carteret already
thoroughly understood his position. ' Lord Chesterfield
told me,' writes Marchmont, ' that on the death of Lord
Sunderland, Lord Carteret had applied to the late King '
(George I.) ' to support him, as he was then surrounded
by his enemies ; that the King promised it him, but told
him the necessity of the time forced him to temporise ;
that hereupon Lord Carteret spoke to the Duchess of
Kendal, who bid him have patience, and told him the
King hated his other ministers. '-"^ But even if Carteret
had not, as it were, innocently succeeded to the grudge
which Walpole felt against Sunderland and Stanhope,
Walpole's jealousy would have soon found occasion for
quarrelling with him, as he quarrelled with his own
brother-in-law Townshend, with Pulteney, and with
many others. It was enough that Carteret was a man
of unquestioned abilitj^, who would not agree to forfeit
all reality of power, if only he might keep its outside
dignities and ceremonious distinctions. From the very
first, therefore, Walpole, true to his constant theory,
felt that he must free himself from Carteret. An oppor-
tunity seemed to fall to Walpole's hands when, in 172.3,
Carteret went with the King to Hanover. A political
intrigue, carefully worked by Walpole and Townshend
in the usual underground fashion, was set in full play,
and the statesman whose abilities and influence Walpole
forebodingly dreaded was before long sent into political
exile. Walpole had, indeed, great difficulty in getting
rid of Carteret ; for Carteret's weight was quite dis-
proportioned to his years, and the King, who knew his
worth, was very unwilling to part with him. But Wal-

' Murchnont Papers, I. 3. Aug. 2, 1744,

SECRET ARY OF STATE 83

pole's dogged determination to be freed from a danger-
ous rival had its way in the end ; and when Carteret
returned to England in the beginning of 1724, the
brother-ministers felt sure that he would not be able
long to escape them. But before noticing the details of
Walpole's plot against his colleague, we may follow
Carteret from Hanover to Berhn.

Visits between Berlin and Hanover when George was
on the continent were, in the course of things, natural
enough. Queen Sophia Dorothea of Prussia was the
King of England's daughter, and often when her father
was at his Hanoverian palace of Herrenhausen, she left
her own capital to visit him, her husband, Frederick
Wilham, sometimes accompanying her. Queen Sophia,
in these Hanoverian visits of hers, was mainly intent on
the famous double-marriage scheme between Prussia and
England. George's grandson, Frederick, would be Prince
of Wales when his grandfather died, and presumably
one day — though it turned out not so — King of Eng-
land. Let him, thought his aunt. Queen Sophia Doro-
thea, marry a Prussian princess-cousin of his ; and let her
own son Frederick, Prince-Koyal of Prussia, afterwards
Frederick the Great, choose an English princess to be
the third Prussian Queen. This was Queen Sophia's
plan, which she had much at heart ; but the two Kings,
her husband and her father, were by no means so
anxious about it as Sophia herself. So the proposal
had dragged considerably, but now in the year 1723
it seemed easily possible to -infuse a little more life into
the somewhat languid negotiations. George had suc-
cessfully ended his Jacobite and South Sea troubles, and
European affairs, it was vaguely hoped, might after all
be tending to a satisfactory settlement at Cambrai. In
this somewhat serene interval, the marriage scheme was

G2

84 LOBD CABTEBET

accordingly more attentively looked at ; the Queen of
Prussia was more diligent than ever, and visiting between
the two friendly continental Courts became decidedly
brisk. It was near the end of June 1723 when George
arrived at Hanover, closely followed by his two minis-
ters ; and before the month was over Frederick Wilham
was there too. ' The King of Prussia is just arrived,'
writes Carteret to Walpole. ' The cannon of the town
are now firing ; six o'clock in the evening.''- Carteret
had a long private audience with Frederick Wilham,
and found him full of expressions of friendship for his
father-in-law the King of England. In less than a month
after, the Queen — Frederick WiUiam having returned to
Berhn after a visit of a few days — arrived at Herren-
hausen to make a longer stay ; and, for the sake of her
matrimonial plans, was very anxious, as Carteret and
Townshend also were for more pressing pohtical reasons,
to persuade George to return the visit at Berhn. To
leave Hanover, unless it were to go to his shooting-seat
not very far away, was never a thing which seemed desir-
able to George ; and it was somewhat difficult, even on
thi- occasion, to get him to agree. But he was at this
moment greatly agitated by certain disturbing move-
ments of the Czar and his fleet ; and to be on good
terms with the King of Prussia was to have for a friend
the absolute master of a standing army of 80,000 men.
The Enghsh King's slightly lethargic dehght in the trim
charms of Hanover was actually sacrificed for reasons
of pohteness and pohcy ; Queen Sophia hoped her
maternal plans were about to be sealed by a formal
treaty, and Enghsh statesmen saw pleasant visions of an
enviable political alliance.

(George, accompanied by Carteret and Townshend,
1 Brit. Mu=. Add. MSS. 22,.i;2:j ; fol. 3, v°. June 29, 1720.

SECRETARY OF STATE 85

left Herreuliausen on October the Ttli, 1723, and next
evening arrived at Charlottenburg, one of the Prussian
palaces a mile or so south of Berlin ; a palace built by
George's own sister, Sophie Charlotte, first Queen of
Prussia, made immortal by a pinch of snuff. The Eoyal
Prussian family were all at Charlottenburg ready to
receive their heavy relative from Hanover ; and though
George terribly alarmed the whole household, and
especially his own ministers, by his sudden illness that
night, all was well again next morning when the sight-
seeing and entertainments began. Carteret gives Walpole
a shght programme of the proceedings : —

' All this Court is at the height of joy to see his
majesty so full of health, as well as of goodness and
graciousness. You will easily imagine that the time is
spent in variety of entertainments, in which the King
of Prussia strives to show his utmost satisfaction at his
majesty's presence. I shall not enter into a description
of all that passes, but his Prussian majesty's favourite
pleasure, his troops, appear in their exercise and in
everything exact and perfect beyond imagination. The
Queen entertained his majesty yesterday at dinner at
a very pretty garden-house her majesty has just out
of the gates of Berhn, called J]Io7i Bijou, and in the
evening there was a fine ball and supper at the Castle.
To-morrow we sliall attend the King to Potsdam, where
his majesty will see the great grenadiers, and after
dinner go onwards as far as Fehrbelhn, in order to reach
the Gohr' with ease on Thursday.'^

Frederick William's favourite hobby, his regiment
of the tallest men to be bought, pressed, or kidnapped
in Europe, was duly paraded before his royal visitor.

' George's Hanoverian hunting-seat.

» Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. -'2,024 ; fol. 10-11.

86 LORD CABTEBET

'Nothing could make a finer appearance,' reports a
feuillet which Carteret sent to Polwarth and Whit-
worth to amuse them in their dreary work at Cambrai.
' They marched before the King and then drew up and per-
formed the exercise of advancing and retreating, and
firing by platoons, which they did with that order and
dexterity that they fired upwards of 10,000 shot in
about fifteen minutes, each man firing fourteen times.'
But far the most notable sight which George saw at
Berhn was of a different, though also mUitary, order ;
the Crown-Prince Cadets, some three hundred boys of
good family, performing their exercise, headed by a boy
of some thirteen or fourteen years old, George's own
grandson, one day to be Frederick the Great. TheEnghsh
King, who was probably a good deal bored by Court
dinners and the painful necessity of being generally
polite, was especially pleased with the behaviour of the
young prince. But doubtless what pleased him most
of all was his safe return to his own Hanover once
more.

And the double marriage, and the Prussian aUiance .^
In spite of all the hopes and desires, not very much was
done to secure the one, and absolutely nothing to secure
the other. Xo double-marriage agreement was signed
now, or ever was ; Queen Sophia's unending toil on this
point soon went all to ruin. A pohtical alhance, per-
haps not of a very definite kind, was indeed arranged ;
a promise between the two crowns of mutual friendship
and help in dangers that might arise; signed at Charlot-
tenburg by Carteret and Townshend on the Enghsh
side. But that was all. Assurances of good-will were
profuse on both sides ; Frederick Wilham, who had a
good heart under his exceedingly rough exterior, showed
really great cordiality to his somewhat inarticulate

SECBETABY OF STATE 87

father-in-law. But for practical purposes this visit,
from which great things had been expected, proved to
be only a more or less enjoyable episode, which left
high pohtical affairs very much where it had found
them.

George had chiefly been reconciled to this visit to
Berlin by his alarm at certain threatening proceedings
of the Czar, and it was in argument over English policy
towards Peter the Great that it first became indisputably
evident that Walpole and Townshend were in reality the
rivals of their colleague Carteret. Well-founded informa-
tion came to Hanover that Peter was fitting out a
powerful expedition ; there could be httle doubt that its
object was an attack on Sweden. In Sweden there
was a considerable faction anxious to produce a change
in the Government; and if this party should unite with
the Czar, the result might be to place upon the Swedish
throne a nominee of Eussia ; a disastrous result for the
commercial and pohtical interests of England. George
was exceedingly concerned at such a prospect, and dis-
cussed with Carteret and Townshend the necessary
counter-measures. Townshend, quite as much as Car-
teret, recognised the serious condition of affairs and the
dangers which might throw all the north of Europe into
confusion again, and he pressed Walpole to consider
some financial plan by which money might be forth-
coming in case of an emergency. But Carteret was in-
clined to go further. He urged that some Enghsh men-ol-
war should at least be put into a state of readiness, that
they might join the Danish fleet without loss of time if
the Czar's action should force England to oppose him.
Townshend objected to this, and the result was a struggle
between the two Secretaries ; the first actual glimpse of
their real opposition to each other. They went together

88 LOBD CABTEBET

to the King, and argued the point before him, and
greatly to Townshend's delight, the royal opinion sided
with his view. Carteret, says Townshend, was much
mortified ; he went out shooting for a few days in a per-
plexed condition. Townshend solaced himself with
very flattering reflections, and effusively communicated
his joy to Walpole.

Por by this time Walpole and Townshend had begun
to consider Carteret a serious danger in their way.
Carteret's personal charm, his great attention to busi-
ness, his perfect knowledge of European pohtics — a
subject on which Walpole did not profess to be any
special authority — had gained him the complete favour
of the King. It was much in his favour, too, that he could
speak German, while Walpole in all his conversations
with George, who had no English and spoke no French,
was restricted to an unsatisfactory, and perhaps some-
times unintelligible, dog-Latin. It is curious to notice how
little progress German made in England under its first
two German Kings. In 1736, when the Princess Augusta
of Saxe-Gotha was about to be married to Frederick,
Prince of AYales, it was suggested that she might ad-
visedly be taught either French or Enghsli. Her
mother, however, with a ludicrous misconception of the
Teutonic enthusiasm of the English nation, rephed that
knowledge of Enghsh or French must be quite unneces-
sary ; for the Hanover family had been on the English
throne for more than twenty years, and to be sure most
people in England, and especially at Court, m\\-,i speak
German as well and as often as they spoke English.
Yet Lord Hervey bluntly declares that there were pro-
bably not three people in the kingdom who spoke a word
of it better than they had done in the reign of Queen
Anne. Of German, however, Carteret was an easy

SECBETABY OF STATE 89

master ; and amusing accounts tell with what jealous,
suspicious wonder the other ministers heard Carteret
conversing with the sovereign in that unknown tongue.
Carteret's weight at the same time was great for another
reason. The influence which Earl Stanhope had pos-
sessed over Cardinal Dubois, and so over the French
Court, had passed to Carteret, who thus was the chief
guarantee in the Government for the continuance of the
French alliance. The English ambassador at Paris had
been appointed by Carteret, and was his attached per-
sonal friend. And while Carteret had these striking
pohtical and personal advantages, he decidedly had po-
litical ambition, though it was ambition of the sort which
despised the labyrinthine httlenesses of the party pohtics
of the day, and was utterly above money and ribbons
and garters. A man of this kind and AYalpole could
not possibly long work together, and the crisis of their
disagreement came during this visit to Hanover.

No Eiighsh statesman of the first half of the eight-
eenth century, however high his personal character
and unquestionable his abilities, could keep his head
above water without a firm hold of Court favour, and
in the reign of George I. this favour was only to be
obtained through channels of a somewhat unsavoury
kind. A minister was obhged to use self-interested
agents whom, if he were a man like Carteret, he
thoroughly despised, and could hardly be got to endure
in his presence. A man like Walpole handled such
tools with a sort of cynical good-humour, as if there
were a kind of unmentioned but half-understood camar-
aderie between them ; while a creature of the Bubb
Dodington stamp would soil himself among them with
a genial familiarity, accepting it as a first principle that
dirt was matter in the rujht place. No English states-

90 LORD CABTEBET

man of the day kept his hands so clean as Carteret ; no
one suffered so much for having despised dirty effrontery
and back-stairs bribery. But, under the first Hanover-
ian sovereign of England, to have a friend at Court was
for a minister almost a necessity of political existence ;
and, so far, Carteret had to follow the fashion or deform-
ity of the time.

From Hanover, George brought with him to England
two leading favourites who are inextricably entangled in
the poHtical life of his reign. One of these Teutonic
women is best remembered by the title of Countess
of Darhngton ; a fierce-eyed, red-faced, intolerably fat
woman — a really great character if size is to be the
criterion. She was so ponderous that the amused English
people compared her to an elephant and castle ; but
George could stand a very large quantity of fat. Some
of the Enghsh ladies of larger bulk, seeing the royal
predilection that way, did what they could to increase
the magnitude of their attractions. ' Some succeeded
and others burst,' sneers Chesterfield, less unjustifiably
than usual. They say that this overpowering Countess
had been beautiful once, though now she had got into
this mere giantess condition, finding all warm weather
oppressive. The world has forgotten her in spite of her
imperious influence in the Court of George I. How
much did she weigh ? posterity asks with languid inter-
est, and learns with the completest indifference that the
amount is unknown.

The other favourite, a woman of various German and
English titles, still vaguely hangs on to memory as
Duchess of Kendal. Physically, she was a great contrast
to the Countess of Darhngton. Xot at all beautiful ;
' a very tall, lean, ill-favoured old lady,' was Horace
AValpole's boyish reminiscence of her. She was so tall.

SECBETABY OF STATE 91

gauntj and scraggy that she was familiarly known as
the ' Maypole.' Except for her insatiable appetite for
money, in which the Darhngton fully equalled her,
there was no particular harm in this simple old crea-
ture. Her abihties were too trifling to require any
mention. Chesterfiield plainly says that she was very
little above an idiot. She was so complacently foohsh
that her society was very attractive and soothing to
George I. ; and, in spite of her deficiency in fat, her
influence with him was considerably greater than her
rival's. She was a Lutheran, with a reputation for piety
of a sort ; painfully going seven times every Sunday to
Lutheran chapels in London. More curious was the
tinge of superstition in the Countess, who piously cher-
ished a black raven which had flown in at her window
soon after the King's death, and firmly believed that here
was the soul of his departed majesty whom she was
never more to see. ' Quoth the raven, Never more.'

So exceedingly influential with the King were these
ludicrously unprofitable German women, that states-
men had to take the chances of their support or ill;
will into their best and most serious consideration.
In addition, therefore, to the politicians who were
incHned to follow Carteret's lead, when the deaths of
Sunderland and Stanhope left him as the chief repre-
sentative of that section of the Whigs, it became
necessary for Carteret to secure, if possible, the good-
will of one of the two feminine favourites who swayed
the King very much as they pleased. Carteret so far
succeeded that he might reckon on the support of the
Countess of Darlington, so long as it should not be her
interest to favour any one else. But, on the other hand,
the Duchess of Kendal was in a thorough understanding
with Walpole and Townshend ; and the Duchess was

92 LORD CABTEBET

more influential with the King than tlie Countess.
Townshend, in view of the coming contest with Carteret,
was particularly well satisfied with the state of this
feminine question. In his letters to Walpole, the
Duchess of Kendal was the ' Good Duchess,' their fast
friend ; and he exultantly wrote from Hanover in Octo-
ber 1723 : 'I beheve I may venture to say she reposes
a more entire confidence in me at present than in any
other person about the King.' So far, the brother-
ministers might fairlj' congratulate themselves on their
probabUities of success, with all the more malicious
certainty when they remembered that the Duchess of
Kendal, quite apart from her Court rivalry, had a priv-
ate jealousy against the family to which the Countess of
Darhngton belonged.

It was over a rather contemptible afiair, more or less
connected with these uninteresting denizens of a Court
where there was no Queen, that the quarrel in the
Enghsh ministry came to its crisis.

A S^Yiss, Sir Luke Schaub, who had been the Earl of
Stanhope's private secretary, and was Carteret's intimate
friend, was at this period Enghsh ambassador at Paris.
He had been appointed by Carteret, and was, therefore,
suspiciously regarded by AValpole and Townshend. The
want of harmony among the Enghsh ministers was, of
course, known to Schaub ; and Dubois, who had become
Prime ^Minister of France through Enghsh influence,
was also perfectly aware of it. The three ministers —
"Walpole, Townshend, and Carteret — had. indeed, united-
ly signed a lettei- to Dubois, after the death of Sunder-
land, and had formally announced their union and their
desire to continue towards France the policy of Sun-
derland and Stanhope ; but Carteret, writing to Schaub
at the same time, had spoken plainly of the probabrHty

SECRETARY OF STATE 93

of disagreements. He told Scliaub tliat he felt his
position strong ; but he also declared himself resolved
not to remain long united with his colleagues, if he were
not fully persuaded of their good intentions.-' He
refused, however, to believe that Walpole and Towns-
hend meant to deal dishonestly with him.^ Schaub,
on his side, naturally upheld at Paris the interest and
influence of Carteret ; and Schaub's own weight with
Dubois, which was a considerable guarantee for the con-
tinuance of good relations between England and France,
no doubt seemed to Carteret a guarantee also for his
own safe position in the ministry. If, then, Walpole
could weaken Carteret's influence here — could give a
blow to Carteret's reputation at Paris, that would be to
damage Carteret where he seemed to be most strono-,
and to injure him in the place where he Avould feel it
the most. Walpole resolved to try.

One of the schemes which Schaub at Paris was anx-
ious to carry out was a marriage between a niece of the
Countess of Darhngton and a young French nobleman,
son of the Marquis de la Vrilhere. The King of England
was eager for tliis match; but one condition the
Darhngton family imperatively desired. They insisted
that the Marquis de la Yrilliere must be made a Duke.
There was likely to be some difficulty in gaiuino- the
assent of the French Court. George, who could not
with dignity make such an apphcation to Louis XV.
unless he knew that it would be at once granted, did
actually himself write a letter requesting the promotion ;
the letter only to be presented if success was certain.
The negotiation was thrown into the hands of Schaub,

' Orteret to Schaub; May 4, 172l', Brit. Mus. Sloane MSS. •4->04-
fol. 66, v°. -• .- .

2 Id. to id. Sloane MSS. 4,20i ; fol. 67, v°.

94 LORD CABTEBET

and, necessarily, of Carteret, to whom, deep in the
affairs of the Congress of Cambrai, the thing was
doubtless as insignificant as it deserved to be. Yet
this merely vulgar affair, a question concerning nothing
more important than the lumbering. etiquette of a hand-
ful of objectionable Teutonic people, served as well as
anything else to overthrow an Enghsh statesman of
genius, and firmly to secure Walpole in a position which
he was to hold for nearly twenty years to come.

The first check which Carteret received was the
death of Cardinal Dubois in August 1723. Eumours of
the disagreements between Carteret and Townshend at
Hanover had already been floating in London and
giving rise to various inconsistent conjectures. Some
said that Carteret would soon be back in England to
form, along with Walpole, a reorganised ministry ;
others, that he was returning in disgrace. The death of
Dubois, opening to the brother-ministers the possibility
of procuring the recall of Schaub from Paris, gave them
also a chance to make it clear to every one that it was
Carteret who was in the weak position and whose poh-
tical power was declining. If the ambassador who
practically was Carteret's nominee, who was devoted to
Carteret's interests, could be removed, a blow would
be struck which every one would be able to appreciate,
and all rumours of Carteret's superior influence with the
King would be effectually contradicted. Walpole and
Townshend accordingly began to make disparaging re-
presentations of Schaub ; to assert that any influence
which he might have had at Paris had been destroyed by
the death of Dubois, and that to retain him in his embassy
there would be damaging to the King's affairs. They did
not dare flatly to ask Schaub's recall, but went about
the thing in an intriguing way, which they thought was

SEGBETARY OF STATE 95

certain, sooner or later, to produce the desired result.
A special incident helped them. On the death of
Dubois, the Eegent Orleans recalled to Paris one Count
Noce who had been banished by the influence of the
Cardinal, but now returned to renewed perfect intimacy
with the Regent. Carteret himself was rather anxious
when he heard of this ; for Noce was on bad terms
with Schaub, whose influence with Dubois he considered
to have been the real caiise of his disgrace. Walpole
and Townshend gladh' took advantage of this convenient
occurrence. Townshend, at Hanover, suggested to the
King that it would be well to send to Paris an envoy
who with all discreetness, and concealing as far as he
possibly could the real intention of his journey, should
ascertain what Schaub's influence with the French Gov-
ernment really was. But how could this be done with-
out disgusting Carteret ? France was in his department ;
any appointment to Paris was Carteret's affair. To avoid
the chance of an open and premature quarrel, Towns-
hend suggested that the thing should be managed as
informally as possible. The envoy should not adopt a
diplomatic character ; should not even go direct from
Hanover to Paris, but should start from London with a
supposed intention to make his way to Hanover, taking
Paris only on his road, as if with merely private curiosity
to see it . To explain a somewhat prolonged stay there,
he should make pretence of visiting the neighbouring
palaces and other objects of reasonable interest, in which
an intelligent foreigner might naturally profess to find
excusable attraction. And for this slightly ambiguous
enterprise, Townshend very quietly proposed Horatio
Walpole, Eobert Walpole's younger brother.

This appointment, brought about without any pre-
vious information to Carteret, was the second check

96 LORD CABTEBET

which lie received, and Townsliend was very triumphant.
A spy was about to be sent into Carteret'is own depart-
ment, and Carteret had not even been consulted in the mat-
ter. Other httle incidents, trifling in themselves, pointed
towards the same zealous undermining of Carteret's
position. On various small occasions Townshend did
all he could to thwart Carteret at Hanover, opposing
his recommendations, and endeavouring to weaken his
influence. Yet Carteret seems to have taken it all good-
humouredly enoiigh, and probably did not think the
state of affairs too serious. Townshend, after one of
his httle successes over his colleague, wrote home to
Walpole — 'Perhaps you may have some curiosity to
know what my good colleague's behaviour was upon
this victory. We came home very lovingly together,
and he was lavish on his old topic, how well he intended
to live with you and me.' At the same time, Townshend
evidently did not care to appear too confident; for he
begged Walpole to mention these particulars to Xew-
castle alone. ' Xothing would give his majesty greater
offence than our making any such affair a matter of
triumph, and the less we boast, the more we shall cer-
tainly have to boast of Townshend was determined
to have a great deal more to boast of. Hardly had
Horatio Walpole started on his ambiguous mission when
Townshend, having succeeded so far, thought he micrht
with cheerful confidence go further. He sugoested that
Walpole's position at Paris would be much improved if
he had some credentials from the King. There was an
easy excuse to make for this. The King of Portugal
was about to join the Quadruple Alliance ; let Horatio
Walpole, then, have full powers to manage from Paris
the various formalities which such an occasion required.
The King agreed ; spoke of it to Carteret as if it had been

SECRET ABY OF STATE 97

a thought of his own, and Carteret could not venture to
opi)ose. But Townshend says that Carteret was ex-
tremely mortified, and a duller man than he could
easily have foreseen the end of all these little sli^ulits and
irritations. Yet Townshend seems, with wisliful eager-
ness, to have cxapgerated the effect which the appoint-
ment of Horatio AValpole had on Carteret. He (l(>clared
to the minister in London that Carteret had been
perfectly astonished by the stroke. 'I never observed
in him on any occasion such visible marks of despair.'
In ascriljing despair to Carteret, Townshend was doubt-
less wrong. Carteret might easily enough have been
disgusted, and may very probably not have cared to
conceal it — suspicious of his colleagues he had only too
good reason to be; but despair, even in far more serious
circumstances than these, was altogether out of Carter-
I't's way. His own language shows that he knew well
enough the plots which were being laid against him,
but that he did not take them at all in the tragic
manner which Townshend fancied he had perceived.
^yriting of Horatio AVaJpole's appointment, Carteret
said: '■ Cette nffuire ne )i)e cause point de j>ei)}e, quoiqiie
uicf' collhjiLCS iiieiit ccrtainement quelque chose en tele en
cef eijeird quils ne in'ont point e.rpUijxe, et peut-etre pus
inane au roi. Voiis serez fort ntfentif a voir si Horatio
Walpole tache me wiettre mal dans T esprit du Due d' Orleans
et (III ('lante da Morville. lUals voiis vons (jarderez bien
de liii laisser entreroir mes soupcons ou les I'otres, si votres.''^
Carteret M'as suspicious, but practically not much dis-
turbed. It is almost amusing to see the precisely opposite
views which he and Townshend took of their political
circumstances. The very day after Carteret had written

' Carteret to Schaub ; Oct. 24, 1723. Brit. Mus. Sloane MSS. 4,20i;
fol. !)0-04,

H

98 LOBD CABTEBET

as above to Schaub, Towrisliend cheerfully told Walpole
that his own interest with the King was daily rising,
while that of Carteret ^\'as daily sinking.^ Before the
year 1723 was ended Townshend wrote to his brother-in-
law : ' I will venture to assure the Duke of Xcwr.-astle
and you, that we have all reason to Ijc satisfied witli
our Hanover exjjedition.' - A month later, Carteret,
referring to rumours which represented his decline in
influence, says to Schaub: 'AH the reports to which
you allude are false. I have mentioned them to the
King, who expressed as much kindness as ever, and the
same approbation of my conduct, and of my zealous
though feeble services. . . My colleagues instead of
attacking have courted me for some time past.''^

Quite apart from the personal relations of Carteret
and Townsliend at Hanover, the position of Schaub and
Horatio Walpole at Paris soon became emljarrassing
and ridiculous. It was impossible to keep up the pre-
tence that Walpole was there out of mere private
curiosity. A diplomatic person sniffing about the
sights of Paris, and doing mere innocent dilettantism,
was something more than absurd, and could impose on
no one. Every one understood that it was a trial of
strength between the two men. Schaub, on his side,
was naturally mortified that anv one should have been
sent at all, especially one of Walpole's social position
and ministerial connection^. His letters to Carteret are
full of the disgust he not unnaturally felt. On the
otlier liand, Walpole Avrote that Schaub had lijst all
mfluence with the Duke of Orleans ; that to ti'ct tlie

' MSS. of Kail of Ashljuniham; Ili,-t. !^JSS. Commi.-isi.jii. Pn'i). VIII.
pail HI., p. 4.

- Coxe, n'alpnb', II. L'f).-,, D.jc. 0, \7■l■■^^.

' C';irleret tu S-chaub ; .Jan. 8, ITl'l. IJrit. Mut. .Vdd. AJSS :i 101 •
fol. 1':);

SECRETABY OF STATE 99

debired dukedom "was impossible ; that tlie ambassador
was in no wa}" fitted for liis post. Yet the brother-
ministers could not oet Srhaub recalled. Horatio
Walpole soon began to feel his ])()sition intolerable.
Whenever he and Schaub a])peared in public louether
people laug'hed in an amused, half-puzzled fashion,
hardly knowing which was amlxassador and which was
not. That Walpole had actually come was presump-
tive e\'idence in his favour, but that 8chaub did not go
was actual evidence in his. People were perplexed ;
Walpole was annoyed, and even beginning to feel
angry. Carteret, according to the King's commands,
had sent him credentials, but Walpole declared that
lie would not use them. He even took ofience at the
harmless letter with which Carteret accompanied the
documents. ' His letter, by-the-bye, was the most drj-,
not t( I say the most impertinent, I ever received from
a Secretaiy of State to a minister,' wrote Walpole to
his brother in a slightly ungrammatical manner ; ' but
that don't trouble me at all.' Surely official Horatio
could hardl)^ have expected lyrical congratulations from
Carteret, and as a matter of fact the letter, which was
a formal one only, had nothing in it with which
Walpole, if he had not been in a state of querulous
irritation, could have found any fault. But Walpole,
who had a very considerable estimation of his own
diplomatic abilities and self-importance, was annoyed
to find that the simple fact of his appearance on the
scene did not at once bring about the result which he
desired.

Yet even second-rate diplomatists of an irritable
turn of mind get wliat they want if they will only wait
long enough for it. To Walpole, waiting to drop easily
into a desirable appointment, the delay was undoubtedly

100 LOBD CABTEBET

provokingly long. Carteret's influence was so great
that impetuous action was out of the question. There
was even a rumour tliat Carteret himself would take
the post of ambassador at Paris — a possible removal of
S(?.haub which to Walpole must have seemed nothing
short of tragic. But the end of AValpole's anxieties
came at last. The Regent Orleans had died in Decem-
ber, and had been succeeded by the Duke of Bourbon.
The new Regent, who at first spoke vaguely, at length
definitely declared that to grant the dukedom to the
]\Iarquis de la Vrilliere Avas absolutely impossible. Yet
so powerful was Carteret's influence that even this was
not enough to procure the recall of Schaub. Towns-
hend therefore resolved on a decisive step. He in-
structed Horatio Walpole to write home a despatch
asserting that Schaub was an obstacle to the efficient
performance of the King's business, and urging his im-
mediate recall. This letter was written by Walpole in
^larch 1724, and brought the long contest to an end.
Schaub was recalled in April, and the fall of Carteret
was the necessarj- consequence.

The brother-ministers had carried their point, but
their success, though very considerable, was far from
complete. They were not able to remove Carteret's
pohtical adherents from their official ])0sts, and they
were not able to get rid of Carteret himself altogether.
He ceased to be Secretary of State, and, as if it were
desired to empha-ise the fact that it was a man of
genius who had been removed, the Duke of Xewcastle
was appointed to succeed him. But to dismiss Carteret
altogether was what his rivals could not venture to do.
Townshend wrote to the Duke of Grafton, at that time
Lord-Licutenant of Ireland, that to remove Carteret
without giving him a considerable equivalent was

SECBETARY OF STATE 101

simply impossible, and lie politely informed Grafton
that lie must make 'svay for the fallen Secretary. In
Dublin, Carteret would give Walpole less cause for
alarm than anywhere else. He would be, for half the
year at least, removed from the Court and from London
political life ; and this was a great consideration to
ministers who dreaded Carteret's remarkable personal
influence, and the special friendship and approbation
with -which the King treated him. Carteret's forced
resignation was by no means to the satisfaction of the
King, and when, a few days afterwards, he was ap-
pointed Lord-Lieutenant of L'eland, George told him that
if he had had anything better to offer him he should have
had it.^ The night after the ministerial changes were
announced, tlie King spoke for half an hour to Carteret
in the drawing-room, and had hardly a word for any
other person.''' Considerable doubt was soon current
whether Carteret, though named Lord-Lieutenant, would
ever go to Ireland at all. It did not seem at all un-
likely that he might soon be restored to office Avith
even more power than he had had before. Even the
limited amount of self-congratulation with which WaL
pole and Townshend might perhaps cheer themselves
was reckoned by many political onlookers as decidedly
premature. Carteret's friends were sanguine. ' Ilis
enemies would be very glad to see his back turned, and
they begin to find they have gained no strength by the
late change. He is certainly as well if not better than ever
with the King ; constant in his attendance at Court, and
supported by almost all the foreign powers.' ^ Carteret's

' Papers of W, King, Archbishop of Dublin. Hist. MSS. Commission ;
Report II. 235.

■= St. John Brodrick to Lord Chancellor Midleton ; April 14, 1724
Ooxe, Walpole, II. 389.

s Brodrick to Midleton ; April 29, 1724. Add. MSS. 9,245 ; fol. 13-14.

102 LOBD CAETEBET

own dispusition wa^ always hopefully sanguine, but it
does not &eeni that on this occa.'-ion he shared the too
confident expectations of some of his political adherents.
The only remaining fragment of personal evidence
rather shows that he judged the situation quite im-
partially, and recf)gnised the facts as tliey were. Ke
did not pretend to deny that 'W'alpole and Townshend
had ]jlaved the political game ungenerously and un-
fairly ; he comjjlained .much of the way in which
Townshend had treated him at Hanover, and especially
of the unjust and intriguing interposition of Horatio
Walpole at Paris ; but he recognised that though the
fair rules of the game had been broken the play was
over, and he had lost. He took his defeat with his
usual good-humour, simply saying that as he had no
political obligations to Townshend he would never, as
Secretar}^ of State, have consented to be Townshend's
mere subordinate, and, for the rest, that he had no
quarrel with the ministers who had beaten him, and
would do nothing to oppose their measures.^ In this
good-natured frame of mind, relieved from the annoy-
ances as well as from the responsibilities of an office in
which he had' been very Ijadly treated, he remained
in England for six months more, till the ^eriou.?ly
threatening condition of Iiish public affairs called him
to new duties and difficulties in Dublin.

' ^^tepben Tovntz to Horatin \\ alpole, April '>. iri'4. Add. MSS.
9,1.51 ; fo!. l.jO.

108

CHAPTEE IV.

LOED-LIEUTEXAXT OP lEELAND,
1 724-17-10,

While Walpole and Tovvnslieiid had thus in lT-i3 and
1724: devoted themselves to intrigne against Ciarteret in
London and at Hanover, Walpole's OAvn Government
in Ireland had involved itself in serions difRcnlties. True
to hi.s constant practice of sacrificing men, policy, and
principles to his oAvn personal hold on power, Wal-
pole, fearfnl of offending the Duchess of Kendal, was
now pushing forward an Irish scheme in which he him-
self had no particular interest. He, probably, even
disapproved it ; but the favourite Duchess was espe-
cially solicitous, and Walpole was not inclined to irritate
or alienate her. For two years the relations between
England and Ireland were strained almost to the break-
ing point, because the Duchess of Kendal was ravenously
fond of money, and Walpole could not personally afford
to annoy her.

For some time there had been a great want of cop-
per coin in Ireland. There was no doubt about this ;
fc^wift in his Brapiers Letters admits it. While Lord
Sunderland was still minister, the coinage question was
under consideration ; and as Ireland had no mint of its
own, various proposals were made in England for
remedying the Irish want. Nothing was agreed upon

104 LORD CAETEEET

during Sunderland's life-time ; but in 1723, when
Walpole ^vas at the head of affairs, a Wolverhampton
iron-founder, named Wood, obtained a patent to coin
copper money for Ireland to the value of 108,000/.
Perhaps tliere was nothing unusnal about such a pro-
ceeding, but on tliis particular or-raiion everything was
mismanaged, and went wrong from the first. The
scheme was not clearly explained to the Irish people ;
the leading men in Ireland were not even consulted
about it. Before the coin could be got into circulation,
murmurs of discontent came from Ireland. Wood was
disliked as a foreigner ; he was vain, impudent, brag-
Ldng. He was a rich man of business ; but Swift never
wearied in contemptuouslj- insulting him. In the profuse
vocabulary of Swift's Draplers Ddter^^ Wood was a
vile fellow, a mean ordinarj^ man, a hardware dealer, a
sorry fellow, a little impudent hardwareman, a diminu-
tive insirrnificant mechanic. In the title of one of his
broadside poems, Swift called him ' brazier, tinker,
hardwareman, coiner, founder, and esquire.' The angry
feelings roused by this unlucky scheme were further
excited by the rumour that this unknown Enghshman
owed his patent to mere corruption, and that the
condition of his contract implied a sulsstantial bribe
to one of the Hanoverians, the insatiable Duche-s of
Kendal. Soon the general cry insisted that the coin
was l^ad, and would ruin the shop keepers and poor
people who ^\'ould be forced to accept it ; Avhile from
better-instructed persons came the more weighty
objection that the amount of the proposed coina^re was
absurdly large, and out of all proportion to the currency
of gold and silver in Ireland. Passion and argument
were very strangely mixed throughout the course of the
whole affair.

LOBD-LIEUTENAN'T OF IRELAND 105

The agitation in Ireland had become very general
and embittered, when the Lord-Lieutenant, the Duke of
Grafton, landed at Dublin in August 17-3, after his
usual yearly visit to England. He found that the ques-
tion of the coinage was the universal subject of conver-
sation and complaint. Irishmen who in all otlier
mattei-s were very well affected to the English Govern-
ment had not a word to say in defence of the patent,
or if they had, they dared not open their lips to hint
approval. Grafton instantly took alarm, and foresaw
an inevitably troubled parliamentary session. From the
vei-y first he predicted to Walpole that the affair would
end in a manner disagreeable to both of them.^ When
the Irish Houses met in September, the temper of the
members was so evident that Grafton, fearing bad re-
sults if he should refer to the matter in the terms of his
instructions from England, made no mention of it at all
in his opening speech to parliament. But when he
attempted to hinder parliament itself from inquiring
into the patent which tlie English Government had
granted, he found his task hopeless. He could not
prevail upon a single member to support the Govern-
ment view of the question, or to oppose parliamentary
examination of it. lie could get no better promise from
any one than that members would discuss the matter in
a decent and respectful wa}^ From some he could not
get e\'eu so little satisfaction as this. He told Walpole
that while the Irish Lord Chancellor, Midleton, was
giving daily assurances of mildness and moderation, his
son, Mv. Brodrick, was moving or supporting the most
peevish resolutions, and making the most inflaming
s}>eeclies : —

'The son was yesterday overheard to sav (after

1 Graftouto Walpole ; Aug. -2^, 17:23. 5ISS. Eecm-.l Office.

' )

ItJO LOIilJ GAliTEBET

he Lad used ^nxun very odd ex])r(_'ssii)iis in a debate
about addressing for some papers) tluit nobody was to
great in another kingdom to be reached for what he
]iad done in prej iidir-e to tliis ; for that a first minister
in En;jland liud been impeached upon grievances com-
plained of by this nation. You see wliat an unhappy
'■ituation I am in here. I am labouring from morning
to night under the greatest difficulties and uneasine-^^,
and fear at last that the event will be very far from
being agreeable either to you or myself.'^

Far from leaving the matter witliout parliamentary
notice, the Irish Houses took it up Avith cheerful anger.
A call of the House of Commons was ordered, and in
Committee resolutions were adopted which declared
that the patent was unjust and ruinous, and had been
obtained Ijy misrepresentation and fraud. Grafton
announced this unpleasant proceeding in a letter Avhicli
was too much for AValpole's usuall}' unruffled good-
humour. It was well that things were no worse, Graf-
ton rather meekly said. Wliat might not have happened
if Brodrick and the more violent spirits had had their
way ! They would have insisted upon resolutions full
rif bitterness ; perhaps, even, have demanded a vote
of censure on tliose ministei's who had advised the
King to gi-ant this patent. But all that had been over-
ruled. AVal[)ole was exceedingly annoyed by what he
reckoned Grafton's indifferent and cowardlv excuse for
so serious an attack upon the Government. As Sec-
retary of State, AValpole refused to write a Avord to tlie
Lord-Lieutenant on his conduct and management ; but
in a private letter he told him that the difference nf
their views on this matter could not ])<is^iblybe oreatei-
A Vote of i-ensin-e. murmured T+rafton, liad Ijeen avoided :

' Grafton to Waliiole ; S.-pt. 14, lr2:',. M<,<.. IVfi.rd IjIIIch.

LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 107

•A notable performance! ... I know very well
what these thing.s mean in an Enghsh parliament, but
I suppose you talk another language in Ireland. But
let that pass. I have weathered great storms before
now, and .-^hall not be lost in an Irish hurrieane. And
when I am lost [I hope] that those who are insensil)le
of such unjust scandal heaped upon me will not know
the want of me. And I give your Grace my word,
when this comes to be retorted upon you, as much
as I am hurt, I will not be indifferent. . . If Brod-
rick attacked, nobody defended. . . . And what is still
more, you seem to think that we must here give in to it
too. Where is then the great crime to start a question
in parliament, so very popular that nobody there dared
to oppose, and when it comes to be considered here again,
the ministry who passed the grant must confess that
there was just cause of complaint ! . . . Pray don't do
in this, as you have in every other step, stay till all is
over and then speak. '^

Walpole was thoroughly angr)- ; and many other
letters, reproachfully complaining on Walpole's side,
apologising and explanatory on Grafton's, passed between
the two. Grafton defended himself against the chai'ge
of indifference tuAValpole's friendslup, and lukewarmness
in support of the administration. At great length he
justified all he had done at every stage of the coinage
question, but ended Ijy declaring that he did not know
what to advise. ' I wish to God I was able to advise
. . what is proper to be done in the present situation
of allaii-s. It is above my reach. ... In the English
storms you have weathered, I never endeavoured or
desired to get lii'st to shore, nor could I imagine that
in an Irish huri'icane I could have any view of safety

' Walpole tn Griifton ; Oct. -■:. 17l';{. MSS. llecuid Otfice.

108 LOBD CARTEHEI

where j'ou are in danger.' ^ But Walpole was not much
moUified by Grafton's elaborate defence ; and in an
earher private letter, he had been exceedingly severe : —
' Furgive me . . . if I tell you I do not wonder at all
that nobody appears in defence of the King's patent
when you think it advisable to write and express your-
self in the manner you do. ... I shall wonder at nothing
that shall happen upon this occasion. . . . The parlia-
ment under your administration is attacking a patent al-
ready passed in favour of whom and for whose sake alone
you know very well. Will it be for the service to suffer
an indignity in that vein ? The patent was passed by
those that you have been hitherto looked upon as pretty
nearly engaged witli in that public capacity ; are they
no longer worth your care or trouble ? It was passed
under the particular care and direction of one upon
Avhom the first reflection must fall, that never yet was
indifferent where you was concerned. . . . Does your
Grace think you will be thought to make a glorious
campaign, if by compounding for this you should be
able to carry all the other business through without
much difficulty? ... I never knew more care taken
upon any occasion than in passing this patent. I am
still satisfied it is very well to be supported. What
remedy tlie wisdom of Ireland ^\•iU find out for tliis sup-
posed grievance I am at a loss to guess, and upon whom
the consefjuence of this Irish sturm will fall most heavily
I will not say. I shall have my share, but if I am not
mistaken there are others that will not escape. I hope
your Grace is not mistaken Avhen you are persuaded to
be thus indifferent. TTiere are some people that think
they are ever to fatten at the expense of other men's
labours and cliaracter-, and be- tliciuM'lves the must

1 Grafton to Walpole ; Oct. 19, ITiiC. MSS. RecMi-d Office.

LORD-LIEUTEXANT OF IBELAXD 109

righteous fine gentlemen. It is a species of mankind
that I own I detest. But I'll say no more ; and if your
Grace thinks I have said too much I am sorry for it ;
but mark the end.' ^

Grafton no doubt thought that Walpole had said too
much by far ; and further letters, following this suf-
ficiently emphatic one, thoroughly annoyed the Duke.
Townshend wrote to Grafton a letter of remonstrance
so passionately expressed that AValpole judged it impru-
dent to send it, but he hardly took the sting out of
Townshend's angry rebuke when he told Grafton that
though he had burnt the letter he perfectly agreed Avith
it. Walpole was always merciless in crushing anything
like insubordination in members of his Government, and
on this particular occasion his business instinct was
offended by the rather limp procedure of one whom lie
plainly called a mere fair-weather pilot. He was further
embittered by the belief that tlie Irish opposition to the
patent rested vcr}" considerably on the knowledge that
there were divisions in the Government in England, and
on the belief that Carteret must prevail over the ministers
who were plotting against him. Walpole was not at all
disposed to yield, but felt himself in embarrassing diffi-
culties. For while he was scolding the Lord-Lieutenant
and fretting against the Secretary of State, the resolu-
tions and addresses of the Irish parliament were on their
way to Carteret at Hanover, to be presented to the Kinrr.
Grafton had implored that the answers might not be of
a kind to further irritate the nation. It was indispcnsal )lo
for Walpole to get the Irish Money Bill through tlic-
Irisli parliament, yet that parliament had declared that
till the patent was disposed of it would tnuch nn other
busniess whatever. AValpole was determined not to

' Walpole to Grafton; Sept. 24, 1720. MSS. Record OfBce.

no LOBD CABTEBET

admit either that the patent in itself was what the Irish
represented it to be, or that the King in granting it had
in any way overstepped his authority and prerogative.
Yet if tlie King's reply should fail to satisfy the Irish
nation, the whole Irish Government would probably be
thrown into confusion. Walpole was douljtless mucli
di-gusled, but in the circumstanfes he could do nothing
but recommend a conciliatory answer. By his advice
the King's reply expressed regret for the uneasiness
which had been caused in Ireland, and promised that if
any abuses had been committed by the patentee AVood
they should te inquired into and punished. From
Hanover, in Xovember 172-3, Carteret sent royal answers
in this sense to Grafton ; and the Irish parliament,
thanking the King, and as-uming that the whole thing
was practically at an end, voted the supplies for the
customary two years, and broke up, not to meet again
till the autumn of 1725.

Tlie royal promise was kept, with a result verv
different from the expectations of the Iri-li parliament.
A committee of the Privy Council investigated the Irish
complaint'^. Sir Isaac Xewton. Master of the Mint, ex-
amined specimens of Wood's coinage ; and in July 1724
the committee produced its report, drawn up by "Walpole
himself. The committee found that the conditions of
the patent had been ob-crved. that the coin was good,
and was needed in Ireland ; but recommended tliat the
])roposed amount sliould be much reduced, and that
4l),fJIJ(J/. sliovdd be tlie utmost value which the patentee
sliould be allowed to coin.

Tliis report wa- sent to Dublin, but it only exasperated
a strife whicli had seemed about to die awav. The
imwi=e patentee boa-ted over his ser-ininiT sui .f s^. He
declared, or it suited Swift to nssert that lie declared

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 111

that his coin sliould be s\vallowed in fire-balls, and that
AValpole would cram his money-bau's down the throats
of the people. But far more fatal for Walpole and the
Duchess of Kendal than Wood's noisy l)ra<iging was the
terrible appearan<.-e of Swift. With a personal grudge
against Walpole, and a detestation of evei'ything Whig-
gisli, .Swift seized an opportunity ready-made to Ids
hand. As a Dublin ti'adesnian quietly writing his sim-
ple D rapier s iMters to his fellow-shopkeepers of Ireland,
he produced a storm 1 )ef< ire whicli England was forced
unwillingly to yield. And it was when this storm was
at its ver\' highest and auQ-riest that Carteret landed in
Ireland as Lord-Lieutenant.

Tlie position Avhieli Carteret now held was n(_it in
an}' case a vtiry attractive one, and the special (drcum-
stances in which he accepted it did not gift it witli any
unusual charm. Carteret was about to undertake a
difficult and rathci- thankless piece of work, and some
at least of his colleagues positively hoped that liis work
might fail. Wlicii Walpole and Townsliend began to
understand that the Irish opposition to the English
patent was really serious, their jealous suspicion readil)'-
cominced itself that Carteret in some way or other must
be connected with this. Carteret was on terms of pri-
vate friendship Avith tln^ Brodiicks, a leading AVliio-
family in Ireland, but Ih-ndy opposed to the Whig Wal-
])ole on the coinage question. AVhile ToAvnshend and
Carteret Avere Avith the King on the continent, one of tin;
Biodrick family arrived at IlauoAcr in the autumn ol'
17-0. AValpole and Townshend both a.ssumed that his
object Avas to intrigue Avitli Carteret agamst them. ' Loi'd
Cartei-et, in this attack, has different views,' AA'alpole
Avi-olc to Townsliend ; 'he slurs the Duke of r^rafton, he
thugs dirt upon me, Avho passed the patent, and make>

112 LOBD CARTE BET

somebody [the Duchess of Kendal] uneasy, for whose
sake it was done ; and this is one of the instances wherein
those that think themselves in danger begin to be upon
the offensive.'^ Yet beyond the fact that Carteret knew
the Erodricks and that the Brodricks were against the
patent, there is positively no evidence to justify Walpole's
suspicion. Such evidence as there is points rather the
other way, and goes to prove that Carteret held himself
cjuite apart from a thing which as yet did not especially
concern him. AVlieu the addresses of the Irish parha-
ment were forwarded to him at Hanover, he wrote in
reply to Grafton that he had placed them before the
King ' in the most effectual manner that I was able, con-
sidering that I had no knowledge of this affair, until it
was taken up by each House of Parhament.'^ Wlien
Carteret and Townshend spoke on the question together,
Carteret said that as the coinage was an inherent prero-
gative of the Crown, he did not see what either House
could have to object to it. Six months later than this,
when Carteret, already officially Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland, was stiU in London, the very Brodrick family
with whom he was suj)posed to be intriguing are wit-
nesses that he Avas holding himself C|uite apart from
interference on either side. St. John Brodrick, writincr
to Lord Chancellor Midletou in April 1724, and acknow-
ledging Carteret's very great persr)nal khidncss. savs of
the coinage dispute : ' Our friend seems resolved to be
perfectly passive in this affair.'^ Carteret, indeed, far
from cabalhngwith ]\Iidleton and his relati(_ins. had four
montlis before the date of this letter privately informed
Grafton that the King was so displeased with the Lord

' Coxe, Walpole, II, 276.277, Oct, 12, 172-3,

" Brit. Mils. Add. MSS, 22,.'24 ; fol. .'JO.

' Brit. Mufi. -Vdd, MS.s, 0,24.' : fol. 1.^. ]4. April 20 ]7'4

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 113

Chancellor's conduct that he intended to deprive him
of the seals.

Carteret became Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland in
April 1724 ; and though, as Brodrick wrote, he was
personally passive, in the matter of the patent, it then
became his official duty to attempt a solution of this
much-vexed question. It is interesting to note that the
proposal which he made, though it was disapproved by
the other ministers and objected to by the King, was
precisely the one which in the end was adopted, to the
complete justification of Carteret's common-sense states-
manship. Carteret always looked upon facts as they
really were. So late as August 1724, after the affair
had been in serious agitation for more than a year,
Newcastle -wrote that the King and his ministers were at
a great loss what to do. They were full of querulous
insistence that the patent must be maintained, while at
llie same time the}' Avere distressed and irritated to see
that the government officials in Ireland entirely failed
lo Avin the conseut of the Irish people or parliament.
But Carteret saw clearly and jiroposed boldly. It was
already plain to him that the patent must be surrendered,
and he expressed his views to Townshend and Newcastle,
Ireland, he said in his homely idiomatic style, might
very well pay the fiddler, and, in return for the com-
plete cancelling of the formally sanctioned scheme,
miglit award AVood some fair compensation for his
])ecuniary loss. This is exactly what was afterwards
dmie ; but Newcastle and Townshend considered sucli a
p)-o])Osal sheer absurdity. The affair, tliey said, was no
longer a mere question of coinage and patents ; it con-
cerned the honour of the King and of the nation. They
would not hsten to Carteret's proposal ; neither did the
King approve it. But one practical measure the King

I

114 LOBD CAIITEEET

did desire. Little as it was to his taste to sacrifice Carte-
ret, lie now wished that Carteret should go to Ireland
as soon as possible. This Avas also Walpole's view.
Walpole firmly beheved that the Irish officials, Lords-
Justices, and others, had been plotting against the
scheme which it was their official duty to promote, and
he thought it worse than hopeless to trust to their con-
duct any longer. He therefore wished that the new Lord-
Lieutenant should go over at once, since everything
must now depend on what Carteret might do or advise.
Carteret promptly agreed, and arrived in Dubhn on
October 23, 1724.

Newcastle, of course, professed friendship, and of
course professed it perfidiously. On the 8th of Septem-
ber he wrote to Carteret, repeating his facile and frequent
assurances of support and assistance. In the same
month Xewcastle wrote also to Horatio Walpole,
exulting over Carteret s departure from England, and
maliciously anticipating his possible failure. ' Lord
Carteret,' wrote Xewcastle in an early specimen of the
duplicity with which he constantly treated Carteret, ' is
contrary to his wish sent to Ireland, to quell the disturb-
ances he has himself fomented. This you may imagine
is no eas)' task for him, and possibly may end in— — .'^
There is nothing mysterious in the blank left in New-
castle's treacherous letter. Failure, disgrace, ruin ; the
strongest of these Avords would have filled up the gap
to Xewcastlo's complete satisfaction. Townsheud's feel-
ings were very mucli the same. If a letter -uppo-ed to
be liis is really so, ToAvn^Iiend wa* capable of behoving
tliat Carteret had condescended to dehberate lyinjr about
his coiincrtion with Ireland.- Carteret cannot have

' Brit. iXus. Add. MSS. tMoi' ; fol. 1.3C,. Sept I'll 17-^4
• Brit. AIu=. Ad.J, Mss. 11,24.0; W, 3S Au-. i>.J,'lr24,'

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 115

deceived himself; it was too clear that though he was the
nominal colleague of Walpole and Townshend and ISTew-
castle, he must expect support only from himself. But
he undertook his task with his usual courage. Before
starting, he wrote to Newcastle with a frank openness,
which the most treaclierous of politicians by no means
deserved : —

' I give your Grace a thousand thanks for the com-
fort of your letter in your own hand, in which you
assure me of your Grace's protection and also of my
Lord Townsliend's. I will endeavour to deserve it, and
I am sure your Grace is too just to measure services
only l)y the success of them. In full confidence that
}'ou will set my good intentions and zeal for his ma-
jesty's service from time to time in a true light, I shall
cheerfully proceed. . . . AVe drank your health, as well
as that of all the Pelliams in the world.' ^

On the same date Carteret wrote to a subordinate
official friend : —

'Cerlainty of success is in nobody's power; how-
ever, I'll do my best, and it is not the first difficult
commission that I have been employed in. Often goes
the pitcher, &c., says the old pi'overb, but it frightens
me not ; and if I am to have the fate of the pitcher,
people shall lament me, and say I deserved better luck.
There are some people in Ireland who say they are my
friends. I shall now see what lliey will do, or can
do. To both their ci'Ue and their posse I am as yet a
stranger. ' -

Carteret's arrival was anxiously expected by the
leading men in Dubhn. It was universally hoped that
the new Lord-Lieutenant ^\'ould at once declare the

• Sept. 10, 17l>4. MSS. Record Office.
Idem.

116 LOBD CABTEBET

patent cancelled. Already in April, the month of Car-
teret's appointment, his old friend Su-ift, at the request
of many influential persons in Ireland, had written
hoping that Carteret would do Avhat he could for their
relief; and Carteret had rephed, unable to say anything
very definite, but recognising the unanimous feeling of
the Irish people. ' I hope the nation AviU not suffer by
my being in this great station ; and if I can contribute
to its prosperity, I shall think it the honour and happi-
ness of my life.' AVhen the date of Carteret's arrival
Avas drawing near, Swift wrote again : —

' AVe are here preparing for your reception, and for
a quiet session under your government ; but whether
you approve the manner, I can only guess. It is by
universal declarations against Wood's coin. One thing
I am confident of, that your Excellency will find and
leave us under dispositions very different, towards vour
person and high station, from what have appeared to-
wards others.'

Carteret landed on October 23, 1724 ; and Ijy bring-
ing Lady Carteret and his daughter with him was
thought to meditate a long stay. ' He looks weU and
pleased,' wrote one who saw him that first dav : ' but
liow long he may continue so I know not. AVe seem
here bent upon our own ruin.'^ The fir-t few davs of
Carteret's re-idence in Ireland were mainly occupied
with the usual comphmentary ceremonial^. He was
exceedingly well received, and ('specially delighted the
University and the citizens of Dubhn by his replies
to their congratulations. But what would he sav
about the coinage ? That wa- the one question wliich
t'vrry (ine wa> a'^king. ' Ma-ter AVood's In'a-s inunoy '

' Do«-ne=, Biohop of Meath, to ^"icolsoD, Biihop of Derrr. Xicol^on;;
Curitiijiriidente, II. .>rl'i.

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND ]17

was the sole subject of universal interest. The day
after Carteret's arrival, the Dublin bankers published a
declaration that they would neither receive nor utter
any of Wood's coin. Carteret would make himself the
darling of the nation, wrote an Irisli Judge to the Irish
Secretary of State, if he would rid the people of the
patent.^ Carteret himself, to whom Ireland was a new
field, intended to say nothing on either side till he had
made his own investigations on the spot. He seems at
once to have repeated the assurance that the Govern-
ment had never thought to force the coin upon any
persons who might be unwilling to accept it ; but
■whether the patent was to be maintained or cancelled
was a question on whirh at present he had absolutely
nothing to say. His first business was to examine the
situation and find out for himself the temper of the
people and their leaders; till he had done this, he
intended to make no mention of the vieA\'s of the
ministers in London, or of his own private and personal
opinions. Unfortunately, however, on his very arrival
he found himself compelled to a special j'^roceedinc)-
which the excitedly anxious people interpreted as evi-
dence that Carteret was against them. Carteret had
been in Dublin a very few hours, when what he him-
self called an ' unforeseen accident ' forced unwelcome
business into his hands. Three of the too well known
Di'ii/iier's Letter.^ had appeared before Cartci-ct arrived
in Ii'chand. The fourth and most famous of the series
was published on the day of his landing, and was
being cried throiigli the streets and even sold within
the gates of the Castle, while Carteret was on liis way
to take the oaths as Lord-Lieutenant. His first o-reetino-

• Dr. Coghill to Rt. Hon. E. Southwell; Oct. 31, 1724. Add. :MS8 .
21,1 1'2; fol. 20, 21.

118 LORD CAHTERET

in Ireland was the jingling of AVood's half-pence : a
fact upon Avhicli Swift congratulated himself witli inet-
ricul satisfaction. Carteret perhaps did not on his first
day in Ireland see his old friend's manifesto ; but it was
l)roii,iiht to him on the following day, and, whether he
liked the duty or not, his official position compelled
him to take serious notice of it. Carteret of course
knew that Swiit was the author of the Draplers Letters ;
it was equally of course that political differences could
not interrupt the private friendship of Swift and Car-
teret. In this fourth Letter itself, which practically was
an indictment of the English Government in Ireland,
Swift took occasion to speak highly of the new Lord-
Lieutenant : — •

' I speak with the utmost respect to the person
and dignity of his Excellency the Lord Carteret, whose
character w^as lately gi\'en me by a gentleman Swift
himself in disguise] that has known him from his first
appearance in the world. That gentleman describes
him as a young nobleman of great accomplishment-,
excellent learning, regular in his life, and of much spirit
and vivacity. He has since, as I have heard, been
employed abroad; was principal Secretary of State;
and is now, about the thirty-seventh year of his age
[Carteret was really only thirty-four], appointed Lord-
Lieutenant of Ireland. From such a governor this king-
dom may reasonably hope for as much prosperity as,
under so many discouragement*, it can be capable of
receiving.' ^

But Carteret wa- a member of the English Govern-
ment as well as Swift's friend. Whatever might be his
own personal opinion in this particular dispute between
England and Ireland, liis first official duty was to pre-
' Swift, rr«/;.s vi. 442.

LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 119

serve order and promote L lyally ; and as soon as Car-
teret Lad read the Drapier's fourth Letter, he told Lord
Chancellor jMidleton tliat it struck at the dependency
of Ireland on the throne of Great Britain. Midleton,
■\\dio had not cared to conceal from AValpole his objec-
tions to tlie patent, though lie declined to make himself
responsible for his sun's violent proceedings against it
in Parliament, had not yet seen the Letter ; but when
CarteiTt spoke so seriously of it, he at once carefnllj'
read it, and frankly confessed that he thought it liighly
seditious. He agreed with Carteret that it C(juld not
be passed over unnoticed. Carteret, who was anxious
to discover the real temper and disposition of the lead-
ing officials in Ireland, resolved to sunnnon the Trivy
Council and discuss the whole cpieslion witli them.

Carteret had not yet been a ^vcck in Ireland when
he met the Privy Council, the late Lords Justices, and
the Judges on this important matter. He delivered his
thouglits to them, as he himself says, very freel}'. But
the unquestionable legality of the patent, a point on
which he insisted, was not his main point. The popu-
lar outcry against the coinage sclicme was no-w being
artfully employed to weaken Irish feelings of allegiance,
and to encourage Irish rebellion against English rule.
The Drapier's fourth Letter was a concrete instance of
this. Carteret, therefore, proposed that its author,
printer, and publisher should be proscaited.

After some debate, this proposal was accepted ; and
Carteret, anxious not to run the risk of fresh difficul-
ties in a second Council, insisted that the necessary
proclamation should be drawn up at once. One or
two of the members, among them WiUiani King, Arch-
bishop of Dubhn, doubted the expediency of these
measures. They feai'cil that the people. disregardin<T

120 LORD CARTEBET

legal and constitutional subtleties, would insist on see-
ing in the prosecution of the Drapier a proof that the
hateful coinage was to be forced upon the country.
They even feared that it miglit be impossible to keep
the public peace. Carteret answered quietly and cha-
racteristically : ' As long as I have the honour to be
chief governor here, the peace of the kingdom shall be
kept." King was not convinced, and said publicly that
he feared Carteret would have reason to repent what
had been done in Council that day. But Carteret was
fully persuaded that his action was necessary ; and
the majority of the Council, and even the reluctant
minority, accepted his opinion. For they were all
Ir.yal to England, though all firmly opposed to the
patent. The Priv)- Council therefore agreed that a
proclamation should at once be issued, offering a re-
Avard of 300/. for the discovei'y of the author of the
Drapier's fourth Letter.

Swift himself allows that Carteret's official position
cohipelled him to this action. ' What I did for tliis
country,' Swift wrote nearly ten years later, ' was from
perfect hatred of tyranny and oppression, for which I
had a proclamation against me of 300/., irliich. my oh/
friend, my Lord Carteret, ic rift forced to convent to, the
very first or second night of his arrival hither.' Xo
such act of necessary formality could interrupt the
friends! lip between two such men; but their pei'^onal
intercour:-e in Ireland was renewed in a rather extra-
ordinary way, springing directly from this incident.
The day after the i-sue of the proclamation, Carteret
held a levee at the Cattle. While the official pohte-
nesses were proceeding. Swift entered the drawing-
room, and made his way througli the crowd to the

' Carteret to Newcastle; Oct. 2S, 17'2i. Add. MSS. 0,24-3 ■ fol. .30-4].

LORD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 121

circle. He wasted no time on ceremony, but directly
and emphatically addressed himself to Carteret : ' So,
my Lord-Lieutenant, this is a glorious exploit that you
performed yesterday, in issuing a proclamation against
a poor shop-keeper, whose only crime is an honest
endeavour to save his country from ruin. You have
given a noble specimen of what this devoted nation is
to hope for from your government. I suppose j'ou
expect a statue of copper will be erected to you for tliis
service done to Wood.' The crowd of courtiers were
struck dumb at such a scene and such a profanation of
their sacred mysteries. Carteret alone was not in the
least disconcerted. He listened to S\vift's speech with
quiet composure, and instantly replied to his friend in
Yirgil's line : —

Ees dura et regni novitas me talia cogunt
Molii'i.

' The whole assembly was struck with the beauty of
this quotation, and the levee broke up in good-humour,
some extolling the magnanimity of Swift to the skies,
and all dehghted with the ingenuity of the Lord-
Lieutenant's answer.' ^

T-wo days after the Privy Council had sanctioned
the proclamation, Archbishop King came to Carteret,
and after speaking of the affairs of Ireland in what
Carteret reckoned a ' very extraordinary manner,' told
the Lord-Lieutenant that the Drapier had some thought
of declaring his name, and acknowledging the author-
ship of the Letters. Carteret knew who the writer was
as well as King or the Drapier himself, but he had no
official knowledge or formal proof of the fact. King
beheved that in a legal trial the Drapier would be in no

' Sheridan's Stcift, 21.3, 214.

122 LOBD GABTEBET

danger whatever. His crime was popularly assumed
to be his attack on AVood's half-pence, and on that i-sue
no jury would convict him. Carteret could not listen
to arguments of this kind. He noticeably left the
question of the coinage quite alone, but the other
question he could not pass over even if he had wished
to do so. ' I told him,' wrote Carteret in his account
of his interview with King, ' that the libel contained
such seditious, and in my opinion treasonable matter,
as called upon a chief governor here to exert his ut-
most power in bringing the author of it to ju-tice.' ^
Xot that Carteret thought this would be a very ea.sy
proceeding. The event, he also ackuoAvledged, was
uncertain. But he was resolved to go on vigorously.
' If the boldness of this author should be so great as
the Archbishop intimates, I am fully determined to
summon him before the Council, and though I sliould
not be supported iDy them as I could wi.-h, yet I shall
think it my duty to order his being taken into custody,
and to detain him, if I can by law, till his majesty 5
pleasure shall be further signified to me ; for if his offer
of Ijail should be immediately accepted, and he forth-
with set at liberty, after so daring an insult upon his
majesty's Government, it is to be apprehended that riots
and tumults will ensue, and that ill-disposed jier-on-;
Avill run after this autlior and represent him to be the
defender of their liberties, which the people are falsely
made to believe are attacked in this affair of the half-
pence. ... It is the general opinion here that Dr.
S^\-ift is author of the pamphlet, and yet nobody thinks
it can be proved upon him, though many beheve he
Avill be spirited up to own it. Your (irace by this may
see what opinion the Archbisliop of Dubhn and .'^wift

' Cait.-r.-t to X.-wrn.-tl.' : (Vt. .30, ITiM, Add. AtSS. 0,243: fol. 4-2.

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 1:2k

Lave of the humour of the people, whose affections they
have exceedingly gained of late by inveighing against
the half-pence.' ^

Archbishop King's hints proved of no real value.
The Drapier did not come forward, and it was impossible
to compel him to confess himself. His printer was
arrested, but the general suspicion that the grand jury
Avould find no true bill against this insignificant man
was fully justified. On the evening before the presen-
tation of the bill, one of Swift's numberless manifestoes,
Seasonable Advice to the Grand Jury, was widely dis-
tributed, with such telling effect that the bill was
unanimously rejected. One of the jury ventured to
treat Swift's paper with some coldness. He was a
banker, and immediately so violent a run was made
upon his bank that it was feared he would be compelled
to stop paj'ment. The Lord Chief Justice discharged
the grand jury, and summoned another ; but the second
was more obstinately resolute than the first. Its first
act was to make a presentment (of course by SAvift) de-
claring Wood's half-pence a nuisance, and the temper
of the jur3'men was so evident that the Government
found it prudent to make no mention to them of the
scheme or of anything whatever connected with it.
However much Carteret might be thinking of the
strictly political side of the question, the people
Avould see nothing in the affair but Wood and his
coinage. Carteret noticed that since the Government
had shown some vigour, writers also had shown
more caution ; but there was no diminution at all in
the agitation. Town and country were both perfectly
unanimous. Carteret, himself quite lukewarm about
the coinage, was astonished at the passionate and

' Carteret to Xewca^tle ; Oct. .30, 17i4. A.td. M^^S, 0,24:3 ■. fol, 42, 4:1

124 LOBB CABTERET

universal excitement. The copper money then current
in Ireland was, says Carteret, the worst that ever was
seen, and much of it had been lying by — a mere loss to
its owners ; yet now, with perverse patriotism, this base
coinage was put into currency again as an answer to
the argument that more copper coin was needed in
Ireland. One of the leading men in Ireland told Car-
teret that this question of Wood's patent was the only
affair he remembered in which he could make no
friends or find any one to listen to reason. Thougli
England had already so considerably yielded, there was
stiU a common su.-picion that the currency would be
forced on the nation. Trade was suffering through
imaginary fears which thus became real e\-ils. Carteret,
reporting home, when he had been only three weeks in
Dubhn, modestly declined after so very short a time to
offer any deliberate opinion, but he did not minimise
the situation : —

' This rage, for I can call it no otherwise, is now
working up to such a height that the best of his
majesty's subjects here, who do not agree in the popidar
clamour, but condemn the late heat of their parliament,
and dread the consequences that such another ses-ion
may bring upon Ireland, say it is to be wished that his
majesty, who has always made the law the rule and
measure of his government, would now be . . pleased
to recede from that rule in this one instance.'^ A few
days later Carteret expressed his fear that an Irish jury
would find treason itself not to be trea-nn. if it were
coloured over with tlie popular invectives against
"Wood's half-pence.

Carteret had not ventured, after tliree weeks' expe-
rience of Ireland, to state definitely what must be done.

' Ciirteret to Ne-srcftstle ; Xov. 14, i;:.'4. Add. MSS. 0,24:3 ; fol. 40-4S.

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 125

But a second three weeks left him without a doubt.
In December 1724:, the Government in London wrote
anxiously to him. The King, concerned that Carteret's
endeavours had as yet produced so little efiect, wished
his advice ; the King and the ministers wished to know
how to uphold the law, and at the same time satisfy
the L'ish people. Carteret, who had actively gleaned
information from every source of value, could come to
only one conclusion. The patent must be given up.
No other advice, he said, could be given by any one who
had examined the condition of Ireland. If once the
' terror ' of the half-pence were withdrawn, the Irish
parliament would cause no further trouble ; would vote
some compensation to Wood, and so close the incident.
No counsel could have been clearer and more direct
than Carteret's on this matter.

The Government had asked Carteret's advice ; but
did not particularly hke it when it was given. It had
taken a long time to convince Walpole and Townshend
that the Irish discontent was really serious. When
Waljjole was once convinced, he was statesman enough
to decline to match his personal views against the feelings
of a whole nation. But Townshend, always passionate,
wrote angrily to Carteret. Was the Entrhsh Kini,^ to
make private bargains with the Irish parliament ? With
impotent indignation Townshend was still informing
C*arteret, in December 1724, that the search ibr some
' expedient ' to quiet the minds of the Irish people was
yet going on. Carteret, speaking on this subject with
more authority than all the other ministers taken to-
gether, had plainly told them that there was only one
expedient. Boulter, the newl}^ appointed Primate of
Ireland, an Enghshman, and a man not likely to advise
measures of too great leniency towards the Irish people,

126 LOBD CABTEBET

was also strongly urging upon the Governmerit the view
which Carteret was expressing. Like Carteret, Boulter
took pains to discover for himself the opinions of the
leading men in Ireland, and of the various sections of
the people. He found Protestants and Catholics, Whigs,
Tories, and Jacobites, disagreeing in all things else, at
one in their views on the coinage ; and Boulter's volu-
minous letters to the ministers in England insist with
much emphasis upon the solution which Carteret had
urged months before he had even left England : the
abandonment of the patent, and some fair compensation
to Wood. ' Without doing something like this, there is
no prospect of any end of our present heats and animo-
sities.' ^ A few days before the date of this letter
Carteret had reiterated his advice, and had told Towns-
hend that the ferment among the people, only in part
allayed, was ready to break out again on the slightest
occasion ; while a private letter from Dublin, written
on tlie same day as Carteret's, shows how the popular
dread of the currency stood in the way of Carteret's
already great personal popularity. ' Isly Lord-Lieutenant
does all that can Ije thought on, to obtain upon the
minds of the people, and with great applause ; but
then, it is curious with 'em to say that all he does is
tritJi design to introdure the hnlf-pence, hut that ■'^Itnll not
do ; ncidicr cntuiij and, drinkimj, cirilitij nor qood. v:ords^
shall alter their minds as do that.''^

In spite of the pressing appeals of Carteret and
Boulter, the spring and summer of 172-3 passed by, and
the ministers in London made no sign. The time for
the meeting of the Irish parliament was drawing near,
and on all sides there wa'; prophecy of parliamentary

■ To Xpwca^tle ; Jan. lii, Xlio. Eoulter's Lett-rs, I. 13.
MSS. r.ocord itHice. Jan. !l \~-2o.

LOBD-LIEUTENAXT OF IRELAND 127

trouble if the patent were not disposed of to the satis-
faction of members at the very beginning of their
dehberations. Would Carteret be authorised to say in
his speech that the ^vhole scheme was cancelled ?
Midleton, no longer Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and
not able to boast of any special favour from Carteret,
^\•as inclined to think that the ministers in England
were anxious to ruin Cai'teret's chance of success in
Ireland and to make him appear unable to do the
King service there ; and that, therefoi-e, they would
refuse to do anything which might assist Carteret to
hold a successful session.^ Parliament was to meet
in September ; in August nothing was yet settled. The
absurd Duke of Newcastle was continuing to write to
Carteret in an irritatingly placid manner, inildly asking
if Carteret had yet found any way to end this unhappy
business. As if Carteret had not months before told
the absurd Duke what must be done ! And not only liad
he told the ministers what they must do ; he had also
urged upon them the necessity of doing it at once. But
tlie Government had not acted upon his advice, and
parliament was now about to meet while all was still in
suspense. Carteret wrote once more in August, and
plainly told the ministers that no viceroy could carry
oil the affairs of the session till this question was onco
for all settled. They had disregarded the warnings
Avhich for nine months he had been giving them, and
now there was only one effectual way of freeing them-
selves from their embarrassment. He desired to be
authorised to declare in his speech at the opening of the
sessiuu that the patent was entirely cancelled.

It was impossible for the ministers any longer to

1 Midleton to Thos. limdrick, July 4, 1720. Add. MSS. '.i,l'13; fol.

.i'.)-o;j.

128 LORD CABTEBET

neglect Carteret's advice. The inevitable resolution,
Avhicli might have been taken so much more gracefully
at a far earlier date, was adopted only some two or
three weeks before the parliament met. On Septem-
ber 21, 1725, Carteret delivered the speech from the
throne with an eloquent emphasis which much delighted
those who heard it ; but it needed none of the charms
of rhetoric to make his very first words palatable : —

' I have his majesty's commands at the opening of
this session to acquaint you that an entire end is put to
the patent.'

The end had come at last. A little unavoidable
parliamentary wrangling followed, and Wood and his
patent became extinct for ever. The House of Commons
dutifully thanked the King for his goodness, and in very
warm terms thanked Carteret also for what he had
done for them ; but the discontented spirits in the
Lords, and especially Archbishop King and ex-ChanceUor
Midleton, hoped to make what mischief they could.
Carteret had appointed Primate Boulter to prepare and
move the address of the Lords to the King, and
Boulter proposed gratefully to acknowledge the King's
favour and condescension in cancelling the patent which
he had granted ; but King maliciously moved that thev
should thank the royal icisdom too ; clearly hinting that
if the King had been wise in ending the patent, his
ministers had been exceedingly foolish in accepting it.
The Lords agreed to King's sarcastic gratitude, but,
thanks to Carteret's earnest endeavours, the addition
was flung out again on a later stage of the proceeding-,
and the address restored to its oriLi'inal wording. Sn
Cavti'ifl s first Irish session opened auspiciouslv, and
ran through its course with all the quiet that could be
expected.

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 129

Carteret was Lord-Lieutenant of L-eland for six years ;
but after the coinage incident was concluded, these
years offer — with one exception — Httle or nothing of any
personal interest or of any real connection with the bio-
graphy of Carteret. The details of the official speeches
which he delivered, and of the various sessions which
he held, belong to parliamentary history, and only very
formally to Carteret's life. It is very incidentally that
anything beyond the barren official traces of Carteret's
political connection with Ireland can now be recovered.
But he took real interest in Ireland, and the testi-
mony of both friends and enemies of the English
government of Ireland agrees that he was a good
viceroy. His position was by no means an easy one.
To say that the two most prominent men in Dublin
during Carteret's Lord-Lieutenancy were Dean Swift and
Archbishop Boulter, is almost to write in short the
Irish pohtical liistory of the time. Swift and Boulter
were radically opposed to each other in their political
views ; one of them the adored delight of the Irish
people, the other the embodiment of that English pohcy
towards Ireland which found favour in the first half of
the eighteenth century. Boulter, an Englishman, and
practically the ruler of Ireland, outdid even the Whig
ministers in England in his disregard of Irish interests
and Irish national feeling. Ireland in his view existed
simply and solely for the advantage of England. The
' English interest,' as it was called, was the object of
his unceasing soHcitude. His copious letters are full of
agitated watchfulness on behalf of the 'English party,'
the ' friends of England,' the ' English interest.' When-
ever an official post of any kind fell vacant. Boulter Avas
in a condition of fluttered anxiety till an Englishman
was safely deposited in it. Even when he did anything

k

130 LOBD CABTEBET

that was politically or socially good for Ireland, he did
it only because it was for the benefit of England also.
On the other side stood Swift, also an Eno-JisLman,
though, as he bitterly phrased it, he had been • dropped '
in Ireland ; with no affection for Ireland, and cursing
the exile's life which he was forced to pass there.
He despised the Irish people, but he could oppose a
tyranny which neglected the elements of natural justice ;
and even before his memorable appearance as the
Dublin Drapier, he had decisively joined the Irish
party, and had denounced with all the force of his in-
dignant irony the wrongs done by the strong country
to the weak one. He allowed even the play of his
casual conversation to illustrate his contempt of the
Enghsh method of ruhng Ireland. Lady Carteret once
remarked to him on the pleasantness of the Irish air.
Swift fell down on his knees and said, ' For God's sake,
madam, don't say so in England, they wiU certainly tax
it.' ^ Even if better reason- for indignation had failed
him, S\s"ift had wrongs of his own to avenge, for he
had been neglected by "VValpole, and he hated the
AVliigs. The Whig Carteret was indeed his personal
friend, but that did not blunt Swift's opposition to the
political system of which Carteret was the official repre-
sentative. Swift never forgot anytliing in the nature
of a personal affront, and he never forgrit that the
Whigs had managi-d to do without him.

between the rival policies per-oiiified in Boulter and
in Swift, the position of a Lord-Lieutenant who was a
member of the Englisli Cabinet, and yet, like Carteret,
without prejudice and prGpo-.-;e--icjn iu hi- deahng- with
Ireland, was not free from eui1jarra--meut. He could

' Anecdote told by Voltaire at Fern-j i.i 1770. .Sherlock's L'itter-- '4
„„ Er.;,lish TrartU'-r, I. UlI

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 181

not be anti-Irisli enough to satisfy Boulter, or anti-
English enough to please Swift. And there was not
much assistance to be hoped for from the Irish parlia-
ment ; an assemblage indeed which, considering its total
want of legislative independence, could not be a very-
striking political body. Very many years after his own
connection with Ireland was over, Carteret expressed
what could not help being a very contemptuous opinion
of the Irish Houses. In 1758 the Duke of Bedford was
Lord-Lieutenant, and found his parliament very difficult
to deal with. Carteret and Fox had some conversation
on the subject, and Fox reported to Bedford what
Carteret had said : —

' His Lordship says your Grace has nothing to do
but to let them dash their loggerheads together, and
to transmit whatever nonsense they may cook up to
England to be rejected, remaining quietly and coolly at
the Castle, till with the last transmiss of bills your Grace
desires leave to come away.' ^

Enghsh policy towards Ireland in the reigns of the
first two Go(_)rges was preparing the mischief which did
not fail to follow. One political fact is as eloquent as
a hundred. The Irish parliament which met in 1727
continued to sit till 1760. But things were very tran-
quil during Carteret's Irish rule. The people had
triumphed over the Enghsh Government, Walpole had
been forced to humble himself before Swift, and the Irish
were satisfied. Carteret had his little administrative
troubles of the usual sort ; but the factious and the dis-
affected found that he had a mind and will of his own,
and tliat, Avhile he was governor, impudent meddlesome-
ness was not the road to very brilliant success. A fussily

' Lord J. Russell's Con-esjmndeiicc of the ith Buke of Budfonl, II. \MQ.
Jan. 7, 1758.

K 2

132 LORD CABTEBET

important section of members, elated by their victory
over Wood and his patent, with gratuitous condescen-
sion ofTered to manage all public affairs to Carteret's
complete satisfaction if only the Lord-Lieutenant vyould
throw himself entirely into their hands. Carteret plainly
replied that he had not come to Ireland to be put into
leading-strings, and completely extinguished the insolent
hopes of these ambitious busy-bodies. Of course they
afterwards gave him all the trouble they could. But
Carteret had a perfect temper, and was not at all dis-
turbed by the excited extravagances of petulant passion.
Absolutely refusing to make himself the tool of any
faction, he endeavoured, as far as the fettered position
of a Lord-Lieutenant would allow, to act mth equal
friendliness towards the representatives of both the
Enghsh and the Irish parties. Swift and Boulter
both recognise his good-will towards them. Carteret
of course could not always do what Swift would have
wished ; Swift complains that he sometimes had to speak
surdls aurihus. Yet Carteret, not thinking that Tory
and traitor were necessarily synonymous, listened when
he could to Swift's recommendations, and gained Swift's
thanks for doing so. The very httle which Carteret
ventured to do for the so-called patriotic party in teland
produced loud and persistent outcry from disappointed
partisans ; with one excellent result so far as Carteret
was personally concerned, for it drew from Swift his
humorously serious Vindication of Lord Carteret from
the charge of favoiirijv] none hut Torle-"!. Iliqh Cinrrciunen
and Jacobites. To be praised hj both Boulter and
Swift was at least a proof of impartiality, and Boulter's
words are : —

' We are obliged to your Lordship for the early care
you took of us English here, and everybody here is

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 133

sensible of what advantage it will be to his majesty's
service that we have had a governor of your Excellency's
abilities long enough amongst us to know as much of
this country as any native.' ^

When Carteret's Lord-Lieutenantship was closing,
Boulter congratulated himself that in Carteret Ireland
had a friend who on all occasions would be able to
serve her.

Carteret's Irish rule ended in 1730. His personal
success had been unbounded, and his political manage-
ment characterised by great dexterity and unwearied
industry. His careful inquiry into financial and other
details which were , commonly let alone with contented
indifference, disturbed the sluggish routine of easily
satisfied officials, but gained for the Lord-Lieutenant
great popularity with all other classes of the peo.ple ;
while his affable manners, his wit, and his courteous
hospitality made him the favourite in Ireland Avhich an
English governor too seldom was. Newcastle's malicious
hope that Carteret's viceroyalty might prove a ruinous
failure was falsified as completely as it deserved to be.
Swift had prophesied differently, and Swift's anticipa-
tions were realised.

A pleasant incident of Carteret's Lord-Lieutenancy
Avas the renewal of his personal intercourse with Swift.
A gap of ten years had interrupted it. The death of
Queen Anne and the consequent fall of Bolingbroke had
made Swift's political situation hopeless, and he Avith-
drew to the dreary exile of his Dubhn deanery. After
ten years' experience of that unwelcome retirement, the
announcement of his friend Carteret's appointment to
Ireland was no doubt welcome to Swift. In that year
he wrote a poem Avhich is a panegyric on Carteret's

' Bdiilter to Carteret; July 15, 1727. Boulter's Letters, I. 186.

134 LORD CARTERET

character and conduct at the University, at Court, and
in foreign negotiations ; and closed his verses with a
reference to Carteret's expected arrival at Dublin : —

Fame now reports, the Western Isle
Is made his mansion for a Trhile,
Whose anxious natives, night and day,
(Happy beneath his righteous swayj
Weary tlie gocls with ceaseless prayer,
To bless him and to keep him there ;
And claim it as a debt from Fate,
Too lately found, to lose him late.

But the renewal of the friendship of the two men
was prefaced by a sliglit misunderstanding. Swift, as
soon as he heard that Carteret was to be the new Lord-
Lieutenant, had written to him, expressing his pleased
expectation of seeing him, and promising to be neither a
too frequent guest nor a troublesome solicitor. Carteret,
who was making various excursions in the country at
the time that Swift's letter reached him, was a httle slow
in replying ; and Swift, fancjing himself shghted, wrote
testily : — -

' I have been long out of the world, but have not
forgotten what used to pass among those I lived with
while I was in it ; and I can say that during the expe-
rience of many years, your Excellency, and one more,
who is not worthy to be compared to you, are the only
great person; that ever refused to answer a letter from
me, without regard to busiiios-, party, or greatness; and
if I had not a pecuhar esteem for your personal qualities,
I should think myself to be acting a very inferior part in
making this complaint. ... I know not how your con-
ceptions of myself may alter, by every new high station ;
but mine must continue the same or alter for the worse.
I often told a great minister, whom you well knew, that

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 135

I valued him for being the same man through all the
progress of power and place. I expected the like in
your Lordship, and still hope that I shall be the only-
person who will ever find it otherwise. I pray God to
direct your Excellency in all your good undertakings,
and especially in your government of this kingdom.' -^

This letter, in spite of its hasty assumption that
Carteret was neglecting him, is ample evidence of Swift's
very high estimation of Carteret. The compliment that
Swift's opinion of Carteret, if it changed at all, could
only change for the worse, is a very fine one. Carteret's
letter of reply, with just a touch of light sarcasm where
he speaks of the ' agreeable freedom with which you
express yourself,' is proof on his side of his affectionate
regard for Swift, and of the admirable temper with
which he received Swift's unfounded suspicions :—

' To begin by confessing myself in the wrong will, I
hope, be some proof to you that none of the stations
which I have gone through have hitherto had the effects
uj)on me which you apprehend. If a month's silence
has been turned to my disadvantage in your esteem, it
has at least had this good effect, that I am convinced
by the kindness of your reproaches, as well as by the
goodness of your advice, that you still retain some part
of your former friendship for me, of which I am the
more confident from the agreeable freedom with which
you express yourself; and I shall not forfeit luy pre-
tensions to the continuance of it by doing anything that
shall give you occasion to think that I am insensible of
it. ... I hope the nation will not suffer by my being
in this great station, and if I can contribute to its pro-
sperity, I shall think it the honour and happiness of my
life. I desire you to believe what I say, and particularly

' Swift to Carteret ; June 9, 1724. Works, XVI. 432, 43.3.

186 LOBD CABTEBET

when I profess myself to be with great truth, Sir, your
most faithful and affectionate humble servant.' ^

This kind reply— the omitted sentences explain the
cause of Carteret's delay in writing — made Swift ashamed
of himself and his testy assumptions ; and he wrote
again to Carteret : —

' I humbly claim the privilege of an inferior, to be
the last writer ; yet, with great acknowledgments for
your condescension in answering my letters, I cannot but
complain of you for putting me in the wrong. I am in
the circumstances of a waiting-woman, who told her
lady that nothing vexed her more than to be caught in
a lie. But what is worse, I have discovered in myself
somewhat of the bully, and, after all my ratthng, you have
brought me down to be as humble as the most distant
attender at your levee. It is well your Excellency's
talents are in few hands ; for, if it were otherwise, we
who pretend to be free speakers in quahty of philo-
sophers should be utterly cvired of our forwardness ; at
least I am afraid there will be an end of mine, with
regard to your Excellency. Yet, my lord, 1 am ten years
older than I was when I had the honour to see you last,
and consequently ten times more testy. Therefore I
foretell that you, who could conquer so captious a per-
son, and of so little consequence, will quickly subdue
this whole kingdom to love and reverence you.' ^

Carteret gracefully refused to let Swift be the last
writer: —

' Your claim to be the last writer is what I can never
allow ; that is the privilege of ill writers, and I am re-
solved to give you complete satisfaction by leaving it
with you, whether I shall be the last writer or not.
Methinks I see you throw this letter upon your table in

> Carteret to Swift ; June 20, 1724. Swift, Works, XVI. 433, 434.
» Swift, Works, X^'I, 434,435. July 9, 1724,

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 137

the height of si:)leen, because it may have interrupted
some of your more agreeable thoughts. But then, in
return, you may have the comfort of not answering it,
and so convince my Lord-Lieutenant that you value him
less now than you did ten years ago. I do not know
but this might become a free speaker and a philosopher.
Whatever you may think of it I shall not be testy, but
endeavour to show that I am not altogether insensible
of the force of that genius which has outshone most of
this age, and, when you will display it again, can con-
vince us that its lustre and strength are still the same.

' Once more I commit myself to your censure, and
am. Sir, with great respect,

your most affectionate humble servant,

' Carteret.' ^

Swift managed to have the last word, and soon after
this last letter the two correspondents met each other
again in DubHn. The extraordinary scene at the Castle
levee probably first reintroduced Carteret and Swift;
and their acquaintance was soon renewed with the old
private pleasantness. Lady Carteret, who from her
window thirteen years before had pointed out to Swift
his hat flung upon the railings by the wild boisterousness
of ladies of title, was also glad to meet again her own
and her mother's friend. Lady Carteret was a special
favourite with Swift, and in his intercourse with her
thei'e was no trace of the domineering roughness which
he so commonly adopted towards ladies of rank. With
her mother, Lady Worsley, Swift had been specially in-
timate in the Queen Anne and Boiingbroke days ; and
now that he was far away from nearly all his old friends
he had hoped that Lady Worsley would have accom-
panied her daughter to Ireland. She did not do so; but

' Swift, Wofks,Xyi. 439, 440. Aug. i, 1724.

138 LORD CARTERET

the presence of Lady Carteret was for Swift a pleasant
renewal of the friendship in the second generation.
They were on terms of affectionate and, on each side,
respectful intimacy. Lady Carteret bids him come to
dine with her at the Castle. He goes, but his spirits
fail him at the thought of Viceregal state, and he es-
capes home. Lady Carteret forgives him; and as he had
not dined with her she instead visits him, and Swift, as
a condition of forgiveness, turns the little incident into
easy rhyme in his pleasant Apoloijy to Lady Carteret: —

Can it be strange, if I eschew
A scene so glorious and so new ?
Or is lie criminal that flies
The living lustre of your eyes ?

Swift's poor health, the deafness and giddiness which
repeatedly distressed him and sometimes drove him from
Dublin in search of country air, prevented him from
being so much with his friends at the Castle as he felt
inclined to be ; for it was onl}' in verse that he feared
the living lustre of Lady Carteret's eyes. The intimate
terms of his friendship with her and with her mother.
Lady Worsley, are well illustrated by three letters, two
of which are not printed in the Works of Swift. In
April 1730, the month in which Carteret's Lord-Lieu-
tenancy ended. Swift Avrote to Lady Worsley: —

' My Lady Carteret (if you know such a lady) com-
mands me to pursue rny own inclination ; which is, to
honour myself with writing you a letter ; and thereljy
endeavouring to preserve myself in your memory, in
spite of an acquaintance of more years than, in regard
to my own reputation as a young gentleman, I care to
recollect. I forget whether I had not some reasons to
be angry with your ladyship when I was last in England.
I hope to see you very soon the youngest great-grand

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 1S9

mother in Europe ; and fifteen years hence (which I
shall have nothing to do Avith) you will be at the
amusement of — " Else up, daughter," &c. You are to
answer this letter, and to inform me of your health and
humour ; and whether you like your daughter better or
worse, after having so long conversed with the Irish
Avorld, and so little with me. Tell me what are your
amusements at present; cards. Court, books, visiting, or
fondling (I humbly beg your ladyship's pardon, but it
is between ourselves) your grand-children? My Lady
Carteret has been the best Queen we have known in
Ireland these many years ; yet is she mortally hated by
all the young girls, because (and it is your fault) she is
handsomer than all of them together. Pray do not
insult poor Ireland on this occasion, for it would have
been exactly the same thing in London. And therefore
I shall advise the King, when I go next to England, to
send no more of her sort, (if such another can be found)
for fear of turning all his loyal female subjects here
against him. ... My Lady Carteret has made me a pre-
sent, which I take to be mahcious, with a design to stand
in your place. Therefore I would have you to provide
against it by another, and something of your own work,
as hers is ; for you know I always expect advances and
presents from ladies.' ^

In reply, Lady Worsley promised Swift a writing-box,
and he wrote in response : —

' I am in some doubt whether envy had not a great
share in your work, for you were, I suppose, informed
that my Lady Carteret had made for me with her own
hands the finest box in Ireland; upon which you grew
jealous, and resolved to outdo her by making for me
the finest box in England. ... In short, I am quite

' Swift, W<jrTcs, XVII. 302, 303.

140 LOED CABTEBET

overloaden with favours from your ladyship and your
daughter, and, what is worse, those loads ^¥ilI lie upon my
shoulders as long as I hve. But I confess myself a httle
ungrateful, because I cannot deny your ladyship to have
been the most constant of all my goddesses, as I am the
most constant of all your worsliippers. I hope the Car-
terets and the Worsleys are all happy and in health. . . .
I beg your ladyship will prevail on Sir Eobert Worsley to
give me a vicarage in the Isle of AVight ; for I am weary
of living at sucli a distance from you. It need not be
above forty pounds a year.' '

The present arrived, and Swift acknowledged it.
AVhat a contrast between the easy famiharity and light
banter of his fir.-t sentences, and the sava iivJvjno.tio of
the last !

' The work itself does not delight me more than the
little cares you were pleased to descend to in contriv-
ing Avays to have it conveyed so far without damage,
whereof it received not the least from without : what
there was came from within ; for one of the little rings that
lifts a drawer for wax hath touched a part of one of the
pictures, and made a mark as large as the head of a =mall
pin ; but it touches only an end of a cloud ; and yet I
have been careful to twist a small thread of silk round
that "s\icked ring, who promiseth to do so no more. . .

' I beg you, madam, that there may be no quarrel?
of jealousy between your ladyship and my Lady Car-
teret ; I set her at work Ijy the authority I claimed
over her as your daughter. The young woman showed
her readiness, and performed very weU for a new begin-
ner, and deserves encouragement. Besides, she filled the

' This and the following letter of Swift, not printed in Scott's Edition
of Swift's Works, are given in Xotes and Queries, series I. vol. IV. pp. 21--
2-20. The d.ites are May 1, 17-31, and Nov. 4, 1732.

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND 111

chest with tea, whereas you did not send me a single
pen, a stick of wax, or a drop of ink ; for all of which
I must bear the charge out of my own pocket. And,
after all, if your ladyship were not by, I would say
that my Lady Carteret's box (as you disdainfully call it,
instead of a tea-chest) is a most beautiful piece of work,
and is oftener used than yours, because it is brought
down for tea after dinner among ladies, whereas my
escritoire never stirs out of my closet, but when it is
brought for a sight. Therefore, I again desire there may
be no family quarrels upon my account. . . .

' Are you not weary, madam ? Have you patience
to read all this ? I am bringing back past times ; I
imagine myself talking with you as I used to do ; but
on a sudden I recollect where I am sitting, banished to
a country of slaves and beggars ; my blood soured, my
spirits sunk, fighting with beasts like St. Paul, not at
Ephesus, but in Ireland.'

' In Ireland '; that was half of Swift's wretchedness.
Was he, in his own words, to die there in a rage, like
a poisoned rat in a hole ? The presence of the Carterets,
recalling to him old scenes and old friends in England,
was doubtless a very acceptable relief to Swift ; and
Carteret found his renewed intimacy with the Dean one
of the not too numerous attractions of his residence in
Dubhn. Swift and the friends of Swift were the society
in which he delighted. One of these most intimate
friends was the well-known schoolmaster, Dr. Sheridan,
whose scholarship Carteret could well appreciate. Car-
teret delighted to lay aside the tedious formahties of
his position, to slip quietly from the Castle in a hackney-
chair, and pass private evenings at Sheridan's with
Swift. Sheridan was a learned, absent-minded, simple-
hearted man, and, in Swift's opinion, the best teacher

142 LOBD CABTEBET

in the kingdom ; perhaps, the best in Europe. He was
one of the first whom Swift recommended to Carteret
in Ireland, and Carteret, attracted by Sheridan's scholar-
ship, gladly gave him such small preferment in the
Church as was at his disposal, and privately treated him
on terms of much friendship. Sheridan's pupils delighted
Carteret by the performance of a Greek play, while
Carteret astonished Sheridan by his intimate knowledge
of the original. The play happened to be one of Sopho-
cles'; and Sophocles was one of the few books which
Carteret had had with him during his wearisome nego-
tiations in theXorth. AVhile in Denmark, and confined
to his house partly by iUness, partly by severe weather,
he had read his author so repeatedly that he had learnt
the plays almost line for line, and his naturally very
strong memory did not let them go. Carteret modestly
read over with Sheridan the selected play before the
public representation ; but Sheridan found that his new
pupil needed no assistance. Being, as Swift says, very
learned himself, Carteret delighted to encouracre learn-
ing in others ; and it was after this classical performance
that he did all that he could for Sheridan. Unfor-
tunately, Sheridan did not keep his Church appointments
long, but ruined his clerical outlook by his own innocent
absent-mindedness. Preaching on tlie anniversary of
the Hanoverian accession, he selected for hi? unfortunate
text : ' Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' Dis-
appointed and spiteful busy-bodies chose to represent
this as an intentional insult and profession of Jacobit-
isni ; and the outcry of the Whigs compelled Carteret
to <;ancel tlie small official favour which he had gladly
shown to a learned man who happened to be also a
Tory.

Other friends of Swift were more fortunate than

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 143

Sheridan ; for Carteret attended to Swift's recommenda-
tions whenever he could possibly do so. It was not
always possible. Carteret was the representative of a
Whig Government, and considerably fettered by the
traditions of the political relations between England
and Ireland ; while Swift hated things Whiggish and
the Whig party which had ventured to neglect him,
and especially disliked the principles that regulated the
Enghsh rule in Dublin. The policy which Swift desired
and the policy which Carteret's position compelled
him to carry out were often very widely separated.
But Swift always recognised the necessities under
which Carteret acted ; and when they had to differ on
political matters, they differed always in the friend-
liest manner. Swift summarised their relations by say-
ing that in Carteret he hated the viceroy, but loved
the man.

For Swift himself there was of course nothing that
Carteret could do politically. A rather vague authority
asserts that Swift would have been willing to accept
some not very leading official appointment in Ireland, as,
for instance, trustee of the linen manufacture, or justice
of the peace, but that he never could prevail upon
Carteret to consent. Carteret's reply always was : ' I
am sure, Mr. Dean, you despise those feathers, and
would not accept of them.'^ Swift quite iinderstood
Carteret's position and the meaning of this polite
refusal. The Lord-Lieutenant must appoint to official
posts supporters of the official Government. The last
person in Ireland likely to support the Irish adminis-
tration of a Whig ministry was the Dean of St. Patrick's ;
and he frankly told Carteret that he knew that was why

' Scott, Life of Swift; Swift's Works, I. 362n. Founded on
&wif/iana.

144 LOBD CABTEBET

he was passed over. With equal frankness Carteret
rephed : ' AVhat you say is hterally true, and, there-
fore, you must excuse me.' This open sincerity
always characterised their relations. In January 1728
Swift wrote to Carteret : ' As long as you are governor
liere, I shall always expect the liberty of telling you
my thoughts ; and I hope you will consider them, until
you find I grow impertinent, or have some bias of my
own.' Swift's fairness could not refuse to confess that
Carteret had always been willing to listen to him, and
that he had done in deference to Swift's views all that
his position would allow him to do. Writing to his old
friend Gay shortly after Carteret's Lord-Lieutenancy
ended. Swift said of Carteret : ' I have told him often
that I only hated him as Lieutenant. I confess he had
a genteeler manner of binding the chains of this king-
dom than most of his predecessors.' In granting to
natives of Ireland such small appointments as he was able
to offer them, Swift thought that Carteret acted a more
popular part than his successor, the Duke of Dorset.
But if, on the official side, Carteret could not always do
what Swift desired, their private relations were very
close and intimate. Here is Swift writing to the
Lord-Lieutenant : ' I told your Excellency that you
were to run on my errands ... I, therefore, com-
mand your Excellency to.' etc. . , . ' And I de=ire
that I, who have done with Courts, may not be used
like a courtier : for. as I was a courtier when you were
a school-boy, I know all your art>. And so, God
liless you, and all your family, my old friends : and
remember, I expect you shall not dare to lie a cour-
tier to me.' Carteret and Swift never plaved the
courtier with each other. Swift, kept waiting once at
the Cattle, while the prosecution of the Drnj,ier'f>

LOBD-LIEUTENANT OF IBELAND 145

Letters was still a question of public policy, wrote
down the complaining lines : —

My very good Lord, 'tis a very hard task

For a man to wait here, who has nothing to ask.

Carteret wrote in reply : —

My very good Dean, there are few who come here
But have something to ask, or something to fear.

Carteret was always able to hold his own with Swift.
Conversing with him once on a political action dis-
approved by Swift, Carteret replied to Swift's objections
with such power that Swift broke out into passionate
abuse which conveyed high praise : ' What the vengeance
brought you among us ? Get you back —get you back ;
pray God Almighty send us our boobies again ! ' On
another occasion, Swift, whose estimate of the Irish
people was a very contemptuous one, wrote that
Cartci-et ought to be the governor of a wiser nation
than Ireland ; for a fool would be the fit manager of
fools. Thus the two men always thoroughly under-
stood each other, and acted with very characteristic
frankness. ' When people ask me,' wrote Carteret to
the Dean, ' how I governed Ireland, I say that I pleased
Dr. Swift. Qiicesita/n nwriti.'i sume .yuperbiam.'^

' Carteret to Swift, March :24, 1727. Swift, Wurks, XIX. 50, 51.

146 LOBD CABTEBET

CHAPTER V.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE : HOME AFFAIRS.
1730-1737.

Before noticing Carteret's further connection %vith
Walpole and wdth English domestic politics, a word is
due to the curious history and miraculous disappearance
of the Congress which after loner struf^gles had managed
to meet at Cambrai. Carteret himself had not been
neglectful of European affairs because he had ceased to
be Secretary of State. During the seven years of his
Lord-Lieutenancy he had frequently visited England.
The Irish Viceroy was expected to reside in Dublin only
during the months in which the Lrisli parhament was
sitting ; the rest of the year he usually spent in England.
And as the date of the Lish session did not exactly
correspond with the sitting of the English Houses, it
was open to a Lord-Lieutenant, who had not had enough
of parliamentary proceedings in Dublin, to take active
part in the performances at Westminster. Carteret was
thus able to take his share in the discussion of the one
absorbing topic of the time. Domestic affairs were al-
most at a standstill. .V languid interest, chieflv of a per-
sonal kind, might Ije taken in tlie impeachment of a late
Lord Chancellor for corruption, or in debating the
dangers of Boliugbroke's possible reap])earauce in
England ; otherwise, home pohtics were duller than the
dullest parochial proceeding-. But with foreirrn affaris

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIBS Ul

it Avas different. Tlae vivacity on tliis side was almost
excessive ; treaties and counter-treaties succeeding one
anotlier in bewildering variety ; war always threatening,
and once breaking out in what might have been a very
serious manner ; while England, as ^vas usual in those
times, was inextricably involved in all the shiftings of
continental politics.

At the end of 1723 the Congress of Cambrai was
ready to begin business at last, after all its wearisome
delays. Early in 1724 it accomphshed its formal opening.
Never was so utterly futile a Congress. A whole host
of diplomatic personages filled the Httle town, dazzUng
tlie e5'es of the quiet Flanders people, but doing nothing
of any practical value. All their diplomatic discussions
and forinahties were mere beating of the air ; for it had
already become clear enough that in the very highest
quarters there was no sincere desire for the success of
diplomatic efforts. "When diplomacy asked the Emperor
diaries if he would definitely give up his fantastic
title as King of Spain, if he would once for all settle the
eternal dispute about the Italian Duchies, the Emperor
would give no satisfactory reply. So the futile Congress
dragged on in a very magnificent and useless manner.
In its first year at Cambrai, young Voltaire had seen it
there, eating, drinking, playing, and had reported its
proceedings in those directions to dissolute old goat-faced
Dubois, who was Archbishop of the place. As Voltaire
had seen it, so it continued ; dragging out the years in
si lining entertainments and fruitless diplomatic solemni-
ties ; until the King and Queen of Spain, and especially
the Queen, grew impatient of the futility of so mag-
nificent a Congress, and turned to a different line of
action.

To compensate for the loss of Alberoni, Spain now

L 2

118 LOBD CABTEBET

had at the head of affairs another vagabond foreigner,
Eipperda, a Dutchman, who rose very high indeed for a
time, and had astonishing adventures in the end. H3
had been a Protestant, but had not found it too hard to
change his rehgion, when the change seemed well worth
his while. A man full of projects and speculations,
with views very much larger than his abilities ; rash,
hot-headed, loud tongued ; very blustering indeed, when
he seemingly sat at the head of the universe for the
time being. His big, grandiose way of planning and
talking had completely gained Elizabeth's attention ; and
now when the wearisomely futile Congress had passed
through nearly three years of its useless existence,
Eipperda suggested to the irritated Qieen a political
plan of his own. Let the Congress continue to
demonstrate its unrivalled capacity for doing nothing,
Avas in effect Ripperda's advice ; send me to Vienna ;
I will settle terms with the Emperor, and Cambrai may
still diplomatise and dine at peace. Elizabetlr resolved
at least to try; and near the end of 1724 Eipperda.
Avith full powers from Spain, in secrecy left ^iladrid.

The secrecy was maintained at Vienna. My-terious
conferences of carefully disguised negotiators were held
at night. Eipperda, well supplied also with persuasive
money arguments, was confident of success, and sent
cheering reports home to Spain. Yet his ellort= might
possibly have been useless, and at least would certainly
have been prolonged, had not a sudden action on the
part of France excited all Spain's eagerness for peace
with the Emperor. The little Spanisli Infanta, betrothed
Avhen a child of four years old to Louis XV., the boy-
King of France, was now, at the beginning of 11 lo. un-
ceremoniously sent home again to Spain liy the new
Fren;h Eegent Bourbon, and the match peremptorilv

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIBS 149

declined. Philip and Elizabeth flamed out in violent
passion. ' All the Bourbons are a race of devils ! ' ex-
claimed the fiery Queen to the unfortunate French
ambassador, with a hastily apologetic 'except your
majesty,' to the King, when she remembered that he too
was one of that diabohcal family. Spain naturally had
no further relish for French mediation at Cambrai.
That was at once declined ; and when England could
not undertake to persuade the Emperor without the co-
operation of France, Spain's one remaining hope rested
on Eipperda's secret negotiations. He was ordered to
agree to terms of peace without delay ; and in this
altered state of things a settlement was easily arranged.
On April 30, 1725, a Treaty of Vienna was unex-
pectedly announced — Austria and Spain suddenly recon-
ciled, and the plenipotentiaries at Cambi'ai left gazing at
one another in a state of astonished collapse.

The excitement among oflScial persons all over
Europe at the news of this sudden stroke was unbounded.
Kings and statesmen did not know what to make of it.
The treaty as it was published seemed innocent enough.
Spain guaranteed the Emperor's Pragmatic Sanction, and
recognised his rights to the Milanese, Naples, and Sicily.
The Emperor on his side surrendered his pretensions to
the crown of Spain. But a treaty of this kind was all
in favour of the Emperor, whose claims on Spain had
long been of the merely shadowy kind. Spain would
neve]-, men argued, have made a peace with Austria if
this were all ; and rumours of secret articles immediately
spread. Ptuniour spoke of large engagements under-
taken by the Emperor for Don Carlos ; of unbounded
subsidies to be paid to Austria by Spain ; above all, of
a surprising marriage-scheme by which the two Austrian
Arch-duchesses should be wedded to Spanish Elizabeth's

150 LORD CABTEEET

two sons. Thus Don Carlos, in addition to all else his
mother could get for him, would gain ^laria Theresa as
his wife ; Italy and the Empire would be united ; and if
Don Carlos should, as was not impossible, himself become
King of Spain, the Empire, Spain, and Italy would be
all in the hands of one man, and the European balance
in a condition painful to think of. England, too, con-
ceived that she had special cause for alarm. It was more
or less vaguely asserted that the restoration of the Pre-
tender was one of the conditions of this unintelligible
treaty ; blustering Eipperda, made more windy than usual
by his seemingly admirable success, was not shy of admit-
ting- it. And Spain's demand for Gibraltar micfht in such
circumstances be a more serious affair than formerly.

The one thing clear to the King of England was that
in some way or other this Treaty of Vienna must Ije
counteracted. r4eorge lost no time. The parliamentary
session of 172-5 being happily over, he left England as
usual for his summer and autumn abroad, arri\-ing at
Hanover at the end (>t June. There, while England, if
it thought aboiit him at all, thought that he was busy
merely with hunting and other not unquestionable
amusements, painful diplomacy was again at work,
eager to set up an equivalent for the Vienna Treaty, and
to render it as harmless as possible. Secretary Towns-
hend was with the King, anxious to do his best. The
question of Prussia was the real centre of the busine-=.
Could England- and France persuade Pru-sia to join them
against the designs of Spain and Au-tria!-' This Avas
successfully accompUshed. Frederick William himself
came to Herrenhausen, to do diplomacy as weU as
hunting ; and in September a sudden counter-treatv,
the Treaty of Hanovei-, Avas produced ; England,
France, and Pra-ia agreeing to stand by one another

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIRS 151

and to induce the Protestant powers of the North to join
their alhance.

Thus Europe was divided into two great parties, and
war might come at any moment. The Emperor gained
over the Czarina Catherine, widow of Peter the Great ;
money poured in to him from Spain ; Eipperda con-
tinued to bluster in the noisiest manner ; and Charles
felt quite contemptuous of all that his enemies might do.
But England also took her measures. Fleets were sent
out ; one to the Baltic, to guard against mischief from
Eussia ; one to the Spanish coasts, to keep an eye
on Gibraltar ; one to the West Indies, to blockade
the galleons in Porto-Bello and check the supplies of
Spanish gold. All through 1726 this strained condition
of afi'airs lasted without any actual outbreak of war.
But in the early weeks of 1727 hostilities really began.
In the angry state of feeling between England and Spain,
tliere were various pretexts which would do well enough
to excuse this last decisive step ; there was always one
convenient argument for convenient quarrel in the lono--
standing question of Gibraltar. Spain, now backed up
hj the Emperor, renewed her demand for the fortress ;
and as England's only answer was flat refusal, Elizabeth
resolved to try what force could do. So beo-an in
February a siege of Gibraltar ; in which siege Laurence
Sterne's father, the veritable Uncle Toby, was a lieutenant
of foot.

But though the angry Queen of Spain had thrown
diplomacy to the winds, England was not rash in de-
claring war. Walpole was anxious for a peaceful settle-
ment. So was Fleuiy, now in power in Franr-e after
the fall of the Duke of Bourbon : —

Peace is my ileai- delight— not Meury's more.'
' Pope's Satires, I,

152 LOBD CABTEBET

And Prussia had fallen away from the Treaty of Han-
over ; gained over to the Emperor by the Treaty of
AVusterhausen in October 1726. This was a heavy blow
to England and her allies ; for Frederick William had
a standing army of 60,000 men. But, on the other
hand, the Emperor soon lost Kussia, for the Czarina
Catherine died ; and the Hanoverian allies had already
been joined \j\ Holland, Sweden, and Denmark. It
began to be clear to the Emperor that there was not
much help for him in his alliance witli Spain ; that the
combination against him was too strong. Xegotiations
were accordingly opened ; and Charles, seeing nothing
but disappointment on all sides, threw Spain over, and
came to terms. Prehminaries of peace were signed in
May 1727 ; an armistice was to exist for seven years,
and all further disputes between the allies of Vienna
and the alhes of Hanover were once more to be re-
ferred to a general Congress. ' Quick, a Congress ; two,
three Congre-ses ; four, five, six Conpre^ses,' as Beranger
sings.

Thus Sjiain was left standing quite alone, and there
seemed httle hkehhood that she could long maintain a
sohtary refusal of reconcilement. Xegotiations with
Spain did begin, of which George, thoucrh nothing
positive could be said, informed his parliament in the
last speech he ever made to it. Within less than a
month he Avas dead at Osnabrlick, the home of his
Bishop-brother. This interrupjted the negotiations. The
Spanish ambassador at Vienna Jiad already, in the earlv
part of June, signed preliminaries of peace ; the pre-
hminary articles for opening the Congress, which had
been appointed to meet at Soi~-<'>]i-. were brora-ht to
London on the same day on which the King's death
became kno^ATi there. But tJie death of Ge> <\-<j.q raised

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE-EOME AFFAIBS- 158

Spanish hopes. Spain hoped that with the accession
of George II. there might be a break in the alliance
between England and France, and she also counted on
the probabihty of Jacobite troubles. In spite, there-
fore, of the negotiations that had advanced so far,
Spain now began to make formal objections, and went
on with tlie Gibraltar siege for about another year.
But her hopes of quarrel between France and England
were disappointed; and it proved impossible to take
Gibraltar. Elizabeth at last gave up the useless, single-
handed contest, and at the Pardo, a royal palace near
Madrid, agreed to accept the peace and join the ap-
proaching Congress.

The Congress duly met at Soissons in June 1728 ;
Walpole's brother Horatio, Stanhope (soon to become
Lord Harrington), and Stephen Poyntz being the
Enghsh plenipotentiaries. But in spite of the profuse
presence of diplomatists, and the seeming easiness of
the work they had to do, the Congress could not
manage to accomplish anything. Thougli the Emperor
had come to terms on the points of his disputes with
England and France, and though he had settled his
quarrel with Spain by admitting Don Carlos' claim to
inheritances in Italy, the Congress could really never so
much as begin business. For before any other matters
should be touched, Charles insisted that his Pragmatic
Sanction must l)e ratified ; and France would not hear
of such a thing. Charles would do nothing without his
Pragmatic Sanction ; Fleury would do nothing with it.
In such ch-cumstances, the Congress did absolutely
nothing. It sat on for some eighteen months, chiefly
engaged in dining ; acting out as great a farce as had
been played at Cambrai. Once more the diplomatic
futility was ended by a private arrangement. Spain,

154 LORD CABTEBET

which had been left in isolation at the close of the war,
was alarmed lest too close a union sliould arise between
the Emperor and the other powers. Elizabeth accord-
ingly required from him an explicit consent to the
marriages of the Austrian Arch-duchesses with the two
Infants of Spain. Charles refused to make any definite
statement, and Elizabeth at once turned to private
negotiation. The result was announced in Xovember
172 [I, when a new treaty, the Treaty of Seville, was
produced ; England, France, Holland, Spain, all now in
agreement, while the Emperor was left to look out on
Europe alone. The treaty was not made at Sois-ons at
all, but at Seville, where the Spanish Court then was ;
Stanhope having left the futile Congress and returned
to Spain to complete the business. Absolute peace,
said diplomacy with its never-faihng humour, should
exist between England, Erance, and Spain ; a pleasant
arrangement to which Holland soon afterwards became
a fourth party, while Spain was specially gratified by
the agreement that the 6,000 neutral troops garrisoning'
towns in the Italian Duchies for which Don Carlos was
waiting, should be changed for Spanish .'^oldiers, to
make assurance doubly sure. This was the one thing
which brought Spain to agree, for it made Don Carlos
seemingly safe at last. The treaty was fairly advan-
tageous for England too, for it said not a word about
Gibraltar, but tacitly dropped the Spanish claim ; and
on the commercial side a real peace "with Spain was
much to be desired. Stanhope was immediately made
Earl of Harrington for his sliare in this business, and
Walpole politically felt the good effects of it, and wa^
r-onsiderably helped in his next session of parhament by
its happy accomplishment.

Thu- in his turn the Emperor was left standing alone,

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—EOME AFFAIBS 155

he and his Pragmatic Sanction in an unhappy condition.
He had managed to displease everybody. He had made
France and England angry by his secret Treaty of
Vienna. He had made Spain angry by not fulfilling that
treaty. And now he was made angry himself by the
union of France, England, and Spain against him. He
was so angry that he prepared for war, declared that if
Spanish troops ventured to enter Tuscany he would
himself drive them out, broke away altogether from his
understanding with Spain, and seized Parma on the
death of its Duke. But Walpole was anxious that
Charles should not be driven to extremities. Very
cautiously AValpole was already attempting to gain him
over, and was in the midst of a secret negotiation with
him, when in January L731 the English parliament met.
Of this private negotiation the opposition, which now
reckoned Carteret among its numbers, knew nothing.
On the contrary, they naturally supposed that the Eng-
lish war preparations were directed solely against the
Emperor ; that the force which the royal speech plainly
told parliament it might be necessary to use would be
emjjloyed to compel Charles to accept the Treaty of
Seville. Such a line of action opened the way for a
European danger which was very real in those days,
and against which Carteret was always carefully on
guard. Territorial increase of France at the expense of
Germany was an ever-present object with French states-
men, and in Carteret such a policy had a determined
and unwavering opponent. If in the present instance
France, joined by England, should attack the Emperor,
the Rliine or the Netherlands, or both, would probably
be the important scenes of action ; and any decisive
success there would almost infallibly throw part of
Germany into the hands of the French. If then there

loG LORD CABTERET

must be war, urged Carteret, let all necessary measures
be taken to save the Xetherlands and the Ehine from
such a danger; a motion which, under these polite par-
liamentary forms, really meant : Do not, in company
with so dangerous and interested an ally as France,
make war upon the Emperor at all. Pulteney in the
House of Commons supported the same view, and
wished that he could reduce to zero and burn publicly
in Palace Yard the innumerable treaties and counter-
treaties that England and all Europe had with such
infinite futihty been making ; a desire which the modern
reader notes with aljundant syinpathy, and with sorrow
that Pulteney could not do so. AValpole, saying not a
word about his secret negotiation, opposed and defeated
Carteret and Pulteney; but, if they had known it, his
o'^\Ti wish and poHcy were in this instance the same as
theirs. And in spite of all the gloomy appearances, war
was not comincf after all. It was true that nothincr but
delays and excuses had taken the place of the one
undertaking which had brought Spain into the peace :
the admission of the Spanish garrisons into the Italian
Duchies. Instead of compelling the Emperor by force
to agree to this, there were, especially on the part of
Erance and Fleury, mere postponements, and words
leading to nothing. Spain's angry irritabihtv would
have flashed out into war against Charles. But TTal-
pole's private negotiation proved happUy successful.
After the most tedious diplomatic diiEculties, he recon-
ciled the Emperor with England and Holland ; and one
more treaty, hoping to be final this time, was at last
accomplished. Thi^ was the second Treaty of Vienna,
signed in March 17.31 ; a kind of ratification and com-
plttion of the Treaty of Seville. The Emperor, gratified
by EnplandV guarantee of Ids Pragmatic Sanction, fully

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE^HOME AFFAIBS 157

yielded Spam's Italian requirements. Spain formally
accepted this Treaty in July, and before the year was
out Spanish troops and Don Carlos himself in person
had firm possession of the Duchies. Spain actually had
the Duchies ; the Emperor seemingly had his Pragmatic
Sanction ; Europe vaguely hoped that she had peace.

In English domestic politics not very much of real
interest had happened during the seven years of Carte-
ret's Viceroyalty. Steadily and stolidly, during all these
years, Walpole had been consolidating his power, and
at the same time had been compelling into more or less
united action the heterogeneous forces of the opposition
which in the end ruined him. Once, for a moment, his
downfall had to all observers seemed certain, and even
to himself a temporary retirement had appeared in-
evitable. From the hot-tempered Prince of Wales, who '
now so suddenly, after the fatal night at Osnabriick,
had become King George II., the chief minister of
George I. could expect nothing but disgrace and dis-
missal. The new King had been at no pains to conceal
his hkes and dishkes. In the language of the political
gutter, in the lumbering epithetic abuse of a vulgarly
spoken age, George easily had a vulgar pre-eminence.
When he reheved his feelings in personal criticism of
the English ministers, Walpole was a great rogue, a
rascal ; Townshend, a clioleric blockhead ; Newcastle, an
impertinent fool ; Horatio Walpole, a fool, a scoundrel,
a dirty buffoon. Walpole did not for a moment deceive
himself by fancying that a great rogue and rascal could
uninterruptedly continue Prime Minister of England, as
if there were no fussily important, apoplectically pas-
sionate little King now on tlie throne. The minister
went to Richmond, to announce to the new sovereio-n
the sudden death of George I. George, roused fro^ir

158 LOBD CABTEBET

sleep — he not only slept, but actually went to bed every
afternoon — came hurriedly out, ' his breeches in his
hand,' probably in a half-awake, irritable condition ;
and having sulkily said to Walpole : ' Go to Chiswick
and take your directions from Sir Spencer Compton,'
retired, presumably to put the royal breeches on. Wal-
pole did as he was ordered. For a very few hours,
Compton, a respectable cypher and excessively formal
person, seemed destined to find himself in the high
places of politics. At Court for a moment AValpole was
slidited as a fallen favourite : low bows were lavished
on Compton, who took snuff and looked as wise as
possible, while Xewcastle was trembling hke an aspen.^
But AValpole soon found that he had little to fear.
Compton's ludicrous incapacitj- for the leadership Avas
clear from the ver}' beginning ; and if George was a
very foolish King, his wife Carohne was one of the
wisest and most remarkable of Queens. She knew,
and had always recognised, AValpole's political value ;
and she was far too pohtically sagacious to allow per-
sonal incompatibilities or the remembrance of objection-
able epithets which "Walpole, in his usual coarse way,
had applied to herself, to stand in the way of the
advantageous settlement of pubhc business. The ' wee,
wee German lairdie ' of the Jacobite songs firmly be-
lieved himself absolute master of everv one about him,
and espjecially of his wife. But Carohne, a strangely
wise wife for so foolish a husband, in her prudent
and seemingly deferential way managed George as she
pleased ; and the first illustration of her carefully veiled
influence Ava? the almost immediate re-establi^hment of
Walpole in all his former power.

Three year- later, AValpole still furtlier strengthened
' Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 1-.0.5S . fol. 20.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE-EOME AFFAIBS 159

his personal position. His jealousy of colleagues who
were too able and independent for his purpose had
already succeeded in banishing the ablest of them to
Dublin, and Walpole's next victim was his own brother-
in-law, Townshend. Townshend, rough, passionate,
impatient, but thoroughly honest and well-meaning,
would not consent to be a mere government clerk and
ministerial lay-figure ; Walpole -was determined that he
should be nothing else. The firm, said "Walpole in
city metaphor, should be Walpole and Townshend,
not Townshend and Walpole ; but it proved impossible
to carry on the business under either designation.
Sullen jealousies rose to angry words. Gossiping
writers, with a turn for the picturesque in anecdote,
dwell almost tragically upon a personal scuffle in a
lady's drawing-room, where swords were near flashing
out among the patches and the tea-cups ; these pictur-
esque details being perhaps mythical mainly. In any
case, things had gone too far for further co-operation,
especially now that Dorothy Walpole, Townshend's
wife, Walpole's sister, was dead ; and Townshend re-
signed. This strengthened Walpole ; for Townshend,
fearing lest his own impetuosity might, in opposition,
lead him too far and produce results which he himself
would regret, very honourably withdrew from pohtical
life altogether, and retired to the cultivation of turnips
in Norfolk.

But that was not the way with all the statesmen
Avhom Walpole's jealous engrossment of power repulsed
and ahenated. Walpole had himself very much to
thank for the fact that, while he was the acknowledged
leader of tlie Whig party, a considerable section of that
party was banded together in direct personal, rather
than ]X)litical, opposition to him. This knot of Whio-s

160 LORD CABTEBET

out of place, wlio called themselves the ' Patriots,' and
so distinguished themselves from the Whigs in place
who were commonly known as the ' Courtiers,' was
constantly increasing in numbers during all the earlier
years of George II. 's reign, and Wal^jole himself gave
them their great leader in the House of Commons, the
Whig Pulteney. In an indirect way, this had been
connected with the dismissal of Carteret. Pulteney,
who had always belonged to the Walpole section of
the Whigs, had resigned along with Walpole in 1717.
When, after the South Sea crash, Walpole and Towns-
hend came back to power, Pulteney returned to ofScc
with them, but received only an inferior appointment.
Three years later, Carteret went to Dublin, and Pul-
teney then aspired to the vacant Secretaryship of State.
Lord Hervey, always partial to Walpole, and always
specially prejudiced against Walpole's two greatest
rivals, says that Pulteney suggested this arrangement
to Carteret while it was still uncertain whether Carteret
himself might not get the upper hand over Townshend
and Walpole ; and that Walpole, hearing of this,
determined not to forgive it. The simpler reason is
probably the true one. Walpole dreaded Pulteney's
great abilities, and for that reason refused to appoint
him. The Duke of Xewcastle, with the maximum of
parliamentary patronage and the minimum of ability of
any kind except for treachery, was a far more suitable
man for Walpole's purpose, and became the new
Secretary. Carteret was sent into Ireland, Pulteney
was sent into opposition. In the coming years, these
two men, Carteret in tlie Lords, Pulteney in the Com-
mons, were the great leaders of opposition to the
statesman who had treated tlicm both so badly.

Opposition, hoAvever, beginning with the very

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE-HOME AFFAIBS 161

beoiuniDg of the new reign, was for some few years
very feeble and inellective. The regular opposition of
the Tories was not very formidable ; that party was not
itself at one; 'downright' Shippen heading its Jacobites,
Wyndham leading the so-called Hanoverian Tories ;
wliile Bolingbr(_)ke, whose overtures for restoration to
parliamentary privileges Walpole had not unreasonably
refused, worked and -wrote behind the scenes. The
spirits of the Patriots, too, were considerably dashed
when Walpole, after Sir Spencer Compton's few hours
of impotent authority, appeared more iirmly seated in
his place than ever; and though the minister's col-
leagues were ridiculously weak, it was not possible to
make any impression upon liis majority. For two or
three years, therefore, practically nothing was done
against Inm ; but in 1730, the year in which. Carteret
returned from Ireland, the long struggle between
GoN-ernment and Opposition may fairly be said to have
begun.

"What line would Carteret himself take ? Early in
his Lord -Lieutenancy Carteret had clearly seen that
there were only two possible policies open to his choice ;
he must side definitely with Walpole, or go definitely
against him. He had, accordingly, through a common
friend, endeavoured to come to a clear understandino-.
He frankly declared his willingness and wish to be on
terms of sincere friendship with Walpole, and left it to
Widpole to decide whether that should be so or not.
' If that friendship can be obtained,' Carteret wrote to
Ids friend, liiidiard (afterwards Lord) Edgecumbe, ' I
shall think myself happy, and be for ever faithful to it;
if not, you will bear me witness that I endeavoured it.'
Walpole himself described Carteret's proposal as ' the
UK.ist ample tender and offer of services that words

M

162 LOBD CABTEBET

could express ;' and wrote what he himself called a
civil, but only general, reply to it. But when Carteret
formally pressed the matter, it Ijecame necessary for
Walpole to speak a little more definitely ; and it is worth
while to let Walpole himself, in his own terrible literary
style, show how he dealt with Carteret's proposal. He
wrote to Townshend : —

' Upon this, I was of opinion that I should encour-
age him to hope for our friendship. . . . I now explained
that upon condition he would enter cordially and
sincerely into the King's measures in conjiinction with
us at present in the administration, and Avithout any
reserves, I was ready to agree with him, and as he
knew with whom I was so far eivjaged as to do nothini;-
but in concert, this must be understood to extend
equally to those with whom I was engaged ; and that to
render this reconciliation more perfect, I would by the
first opportunity acquaint your lordship with it, and
did not doubt of your concui-rence u])on the same con-
ditions. By til is means, my lord, we shall hinder him
from entering into any engagements Avith Eoxinirgh,
Pulteney, etc. ; Ave shall have tlie use of him and lii-
assistance in the House of Lords next Avinter, Avhere his
behaviour may make him so desperate Avith them that
he may have no resource. I say nothing of his sincer-
ity, so as to answer for it ; but ^\e knoAV him enough to
watch him, and Ijc upon our guard. ... If Ave keep
him and nerkeley. ... I think we haA'e all that are
Avorth having of that clan.'^

Walpole's literary style is A-ery di,-tre— iug ; but he
could hardly haA-e asserted more clearly that he Avas
Avilling emjugli to receive from Carteret all he could

' (Jaiteiet's Iftter to Edgeciimbe and Walpnl^/.s to Townshend are in
C'oxe's Wnlpolc, II. l->-riii. The dates are Sieiit. and (Jet. ITi'.j.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—BOME AFFAIRS 163

get, and had no intention of giving anything in return.
C'arleret cannot liave mistaken tlie spirit of Walpole's
reply ; and as tlio years of his Irish government passed
on must ha\e more and more clearly seen that any
real union was impnssilile. In December Xl'll his
friend Schaub \\-n)te frtnii Versailles that the ministers
in London were doing all they could to undermine Car-
teret's influence at Paris, and to represent him as
uninfluential and on the point of falling. Walpole, in
short, was determined to get rid of Carteret, and that
was made perfectly evident when Carteret returned
from Dublin to London. The only attempt to keep
him in some slight relation to the Government was the
offer of a ceremonial position at Court, with a stick of
some colour or other attached to it. Carteret immedi-
ately declined this ornamental absurdity, which Walpole
cannot have supposed he would accept. It was the
year of Townshend's resignation ; tlie year in which
AValpole's supremacy became absolute. Carteret was
only one political enemy the more, and Walpole felt
himself vei-y firm.

Tlie long struggle against Walpole, the great Wal-
polean l)attle as it got to be called, faint at first, but
growing strong and stronger year by year, till it became
almost dramatic in its intensity, may be said to have
begun in earnest in the year of Carteret's return from
Ireland It A\'as not difficult to find many points for
plausible and justifiable attacks on Walpole. His pohcy
could not rouse much enthusiasm even amon<j his own
supporters. He was content to let things alone ; to
touch no abuses which were not too scandalous and
miportunate ; to oi\-e way on all occasions rather than
face any parhamentary trouble or risk any parliamentary
defeat. C^ynical poHtical proceedings of this sort might

.M 2

164 LOBD CARTERET

be Avell adapted for securing a long hold of office ; but
they were terribly nninterestinp-. Still, so long as seri-
ously exciting questions did not arise, it was difficult
for the opposition to do veiy much. It Avas not, on
many occasions, the want of a good cau^e that ham-
pered Carteret and Pultency, Che-tcrfield and Ajgylc:
it was rather tJae want of much ]>olitical intere.-l in tlic
nation at large ; the general rather heavy and dull
.satisfaction ^nth a minister who was trusted in money
matters, and who kept the nation faii'ly at peace. If
the long period of the struggle is divided into two
parts, the death of Queen Caroline in 1737 being taken
as the dividing mark, it will be clear that in the first of
these periods Walpole Avas practically master of the
situation, and that the performances of the opposition
were trifling. But in the second a change is manife-t
at once. The Queen, Walpole"s firm friend at Court,
Avas gone ; loiig-continued exclu.-ioii from office had
lieightened the energies of his political adversaries ;
and, most important of all, a number of foreign questiijns
Avere arising for solution on Avhich lioth CViurt and
nation Avere opposed to Walpole's views. His authority,
therefore, gradually waned, becoming Aveaker and
Aveaker Avith each succeeding session ; till at last tlie
great majority Avdiich had so long registered his decrees
failed him, and lie fell from the poAver to Avhich, till
the very la-t moment, he clung Avith a sort of fanati-
ral di'-peialion.

The first of tlie^e two periods, not in many avuv-
very interesting, and not requiring very detailed treat-
ment even in a general history of the time. mav. in a
biography of ('arteret, l)e passed over Avith cimiparative
lightnc". FniTii NoM to 17o3, the parliaraentai'v se--
,-iou- Avcre verv quiet. But in ITo-J tliere Avas a decided

OVL'OSITIOS TO WALPOLE—IIUME AFFAIBS icr,

storm ; and although Carteret had nothing personally
or politically to do with it, it served to produce some
curiously absurd criticism of his cliara<;ter by Queen
Caroline. Walpole had proposed his celebrated Excise
sclieuie ; a scheme which, in his own words, would have
tended to make London a free port, and the market of
llic world. ]5ut there was a general outcry against it.
The vciy name of Excise was hateful ; and though AYal-
j)()lc's plan was of the most moderate and restricted
kind, unscrupulous writers and speakers did not hesitate
to ruin it by the most falsely exaggerated alarms. It
would have merely altered the method of collecting
the duties on wine and tobacco; but it was ])ersistently
lepresented and everywhere spoken of as a scheme for
taxing everything, down to the most necessary articles
of food and dress The unscrupulous agitation caused
great excitement in the country ; and parliamentary
t'ircles eagerly discussed the important question : What
will Walpole do ?

To llie interesting companion question: What will
the Opposition do P a partial answer was soon given Ijy
a (•oiisi(leral)le seetion of the House of Lords. Kothing
was so powerful a su])port to Wulpole as the steady
favour of the tiueen. This hlxcise incident which had
roused such ianorant i)assion and universal alarm might,
thought some of the peers, well lie used to weaken
Walpole's influence in that (juarter, and to frighten
Carohne by convincing her that the Prime Minister
Avhora she supported was the most unpopular man in
the country. This rather amateurish plan was adopted ;
and the Earl of Stair (of later Dettingen renown) was
chosen to approach the Queen with argument and with
oratory. Unwilhng to spoil the effect of his haranyue
by the mildness of his language. Stair asserted that

IGG LOltl) CAHTERET

never was a minister so universally hated as Walpole,
and that his olistinate insistence on hi^^ Excise scheme
was eiiilangerinp- the crown. Stair became almost trapii'
in remonstrances ; in a sccmiiiLily snperlluons way
liinted that EiiLdislimcn never would Ije slaves; and,
forgettinp- that lie Ava< in the Court of T-^eoi-ge II.,
solemnly spoke about his i;onsciencc. 'Ah ! my lord !'
burst out the Queen, ' ne me pnrle: point de conscienre ;
vous iTic JiiitpR ertumuir.

Caroline, who had a very sharp tongue, and \\'a>
quite well awai^e of that fact, castigated Lord Stair in
a very outspoken fashion. Slie frankly told him that
liis profes-ioji* i>f patriotism only made her laugh ; and
she let him understand that slie reckoned him merely
a puppet in the hands of two worthless men of genius.
The interesting fact here is that Carteret was one of the
two men whom the Queen had in her mind. Lord
Bolingbroke ^vas the other ; and Caroline bracketed
them together in tln^ ungrammatically vigorous sen-
tence : ' My Lord Bolingbroke and my Lord Carteret,
whom you may tell, if you think fit, that I have long
known to be two as wortlile^s men of parts as anv in
this country, and Avhom I have not only been often
told are two of the greatest liars and knave- in anv
country, but whom my OAvn observation and experience
have found so.' ^ From tlie point of view of ungrani-
matical vigour nothing could be finer ; but as far a.-^
Caiteret i- concerned there is not a word of truth in this
impetuous accusation. Queen Caroline had no right to
bracket Carteret and Bolingbroke as working together
in pohtical Ufe ; for beyond the fact that they were
both in opposition, they had no political connection of

' Lnrd Ilt-rv^y, ^ItiwAi-i, I. ]"1, ITi' ; -w-ho had Li= account cf the ii;tei-
view iiom the Qui^en hei-self.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—IIOME AFFAIBS 1C7

any kind wliatever. The other charge of lying and
knavery is with regard to Carteret simply and supremely
ridiculous. Caroline's sharp sayings were never par-
ticularly refined ; but noisy bombast of this kind brings
her lilcrary style down almost to the level of her tyran-
niral little lord's outbursts of passionate and personal
abuse.

There is no evidence that Carteret had any share in
tliis ratlier weak and quite ineffective attempt to shake
the Queen's confidence in Walpole. Carteret spoke out
his opposition to the minister frankly and uncompro-
ijiisiiigly from his seat in parliament; but on this sub-
ject lie had nothing to say, for the Excise Bill never
readied the House of Lords. So powerful Avas the
ojiixisition in parliament, and so excited the feeling in
the country, that though A\'alpole was firmly con\inced
of the excellence of his plan, and though the King and
Queen gave him all the supj^ort in their power, the
Exci.se scheme had to be dropped. This was a check
which Walpole felt very much. His usual gay indif-
ference momentarily forsook him. Yet, after all, he
managed, as he always did in such cases, to gain some
temporary advantage from what was undeniably a de-
feat. He at once dismissed from their official positions
those who had either actually opposed him on the ques-
tion, or had not effectively enough supported him. In
this way Chesterfield was dismissed. Unfortunately for
Walpole personally, such temporary advantages unfail-
ingly brought their revenges. Every dismissed official
surely found his way into the ranks of the opposition.
The jealously imperious minister was left more and
more to surround himself with mediocrities only, whose
support, satisfactory enough for the moment, could not
be any long-lasting strength. Long as Walpole's Govern-

lOs LOBD CABTEBET

raent existed after tlii- incident, holding hard to office
and practically doincr nothing else, the beginnincr of the
end may fairly be dated from 1733 and the Exci-e
scheme. The opposition, especially in the Ilon^o of
Lords, where C'ai'teret wa- already clearly becominff its
loader, began to be more defiiiilc, vigorous, and im])ort-
ant. Walpole liimself increased its nnmlicis next year
by dismis-;ing the Ear]< of Marclimont, Bolton, and Cob-
ham, w]io«e conduct had failed to satisfy him. Carteret,
Chesterfield, Argyle, Bedford, and Stair were far too
strong for a fussily ridiculous Duke of Xewca^ile and
for such other official supporters as Walpole could
muster in the House of Lords, and his position in that
House at least was far from .satisfactor}'.

The years immediately following AValpole's Excise
defeat, occupied almost exclusively with domestic
politics, are chiefly interesting, so far as Carteret i-
concerned, for their evidence of his decisive pre-emin-
ence in oppi'isition. .':^onio fjbservers, with a turn for
the small gossip of political accommodation^, professed
to believe that Carteret was already secretly anxioii~
for a reconciliation with Walpole. Lord Hervey, who
might easily have spared ]iim«elf the trouble, thouglit
it worth while to a-k "Walpole if there wa^ any truth
in these rumour-^. "Walpole"- answer had at least the
merit ijf idearnes*. ' He asked me,' reports Hervev.
' if I thougrht liirn mad enoutrh ever to trust such a
fellow as that on any consideratirm. or on any promi-e-^
or professions, A\dthin the walls of St. James's.' 'I had
some difficulty,' added he, ■ to get him out : but he
shall find much more to get in again.' ' From Wal-
pole's personal point of view, it was decidedly a wise
thing to put a strong barrier between Carteret and

■ Ll.i-J litrvev, J/f„.wV , I. Hj\, 46i'.

OPPOSITION TO WALP0LE—H02IE AFFAIRS Kii)

C'oiirl favour. C'ai'tei'cl, on tlie otlior liantl, had an un-
questioned right to further, by all fair methods, his own
and his party's political interests. Walpole could not
appropriate quite all the political field to himself and
to the insiirnificant officials who were allowed to call
themselves his collca!j:ues. That Carteret should desire,
after all that had passed, to take oflice in Walpole's
Government, was too ridiculous to l)e believingly as-
serted ; but lie was a practical statesman of large and
seriously considered ^'iews, ai:d naturally and neces-
sarily desired to be able to give effect to his political
opinions. There was none of the hypocritical humility
in Carteret which professes, when out of office, to be
entirely indifferent to the possession of political power.
But just for this very reason, Walpole could not have
desired a fairer, more straightforward political adver-
saiy. Tlie practical certainty that he himself must soon
be liigh ill power made opposition in Carteret's case
only a little less responsible than government itself. A
fair instance of his parliamentary conduct in opposition
occurred in tlie session of 1736. The Quakers were
anxious for relief in a small matter which pressed hard
on their cf)nscientious scruples. AValpole was desirous
to meet their views ; but the bishops would not hear of
it. The bishops had their way, and threw out the
small measure of relief. George and Caroline — the
(Jiieen Avas never very orthodox — were both exceed-
ingly angry. ' Scoundrels ; black, canting, hypocritical
rascals,' George called the bishops in his passionate
style ; and hard words fell thick on them in parliament
and in the country. The Duke of Argyle abused them;
Lord Cliief Justice- Hardwicke dwelt bitterly on their
ricli plurahties; and Carteret, while declaring that
every one knew his extreme hostihty to the existini«-

170 LOIW CAliTEhET

Government, asserted tliat he would never join in at-
tacking soix minister wlio was ecclesiastically insulted.

More serious annoyance than the bigoted opposition
of tlie bislicips soon interrupted the placid securit)' of
the rinvernment. TJjis same year 1736 was one of
consideraljle disturljance thrrniLfhout the country gener-
ally ; but none of the more or less riotous outlireak-
attracted such general attention as the so-called Porteous
riots at Edinburgh. A well-known smuggler had been
arre-ted and sentenced to death. There was always
a lurking feeling of sympathy with oflcnces of the
smuggling kind ; and, in this particular case, the rather
romantic way in whicli the impri-oned smuggler had
as^i^ted the escape of a fellow-prisoner had quite
turned popular sentiment in his favour. To avoid, if
p(i>-ible, a riot and a probable, attempted re-iue of
the prisoner, the Edinburgh Town Guard, under Cap-
tain Porteous, Avas drawn up at the place of execution.
The sentence, however, was carried out quietly enough ;
Ijut immediately afterwards all was in confusion. The
mob was very large ; stones began to fly at Porteous and
hi- Guard, who still storid under arms round about the
gallows. ' Fire I ' said Captain Porteous to his men ; and
'^ome lialf-dozen of the crowd fell. Porteous was at once
put upon his trial for this order, and to the fierce de-
liglit of the infuriated people was sentenced to death.

The ca-e of Porteous seemed, however, somewhat too
hard ; and, in response to an influential petition from
Scrjtland, Queen Caroline — for George had already
escaped to Hanover — sent down a reprieve. But the
Edinburgh mob ^vas in no mood to surrender its victim.
It seized the city gate- : broke into the prison ; dragged
Porteous to the C-i-rassmarket. and there formally carried
out the sentence to its own complete satisfaction, meet-

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE-IIOME AFFAIliS 171

ing its own views of legal requirements by punctually
paying for the necessary rope. Then it quietly dis-
persed.

Something of the sort had been expected, but no
Ijrecautions had been taken. General J\b)yle, who
commanded the King's troo])s in Scotland, was in the
suburbs of Edinburgh ; and late at night, while the
riot that preceded the execution of Porteous was still
taking its course, Lindsay, Member for Edinburgh,
slipped out of the city by a small wicket-gate which
was not in the hands of the rioters, and went in search
of Moyle. But Moyle would not move, declining to act
against the rioters unless ordered to do so by the civil
magistrates. So the hours passed by, and absolutely
nothing Avas done. And when, later on, the Edinburgh
nuigistrates imdertook a judicial investigation of the
affair, it proved impossible to produce condemning
evidence that had any legal weight. The Queen was
very angry. She was very angry with Moyle, and
dechired that if the rioters deserved to be hanged he
deserved to be shot. She was indignant Avith the
magistrates who had done nothing to hinder or to
punish the riot, and with the people of Edinbui-gh
generally, Avhose zeal against Porteous made it impos-
sible to procure either prisoners (u- witnesses. And
slie felt considerable personal pique that this outbi'eak
against authority had occurred whde the government
of the country was in Jier hands.

Parliament accordingly turned to the matter. Par-
liament had been waiting long Ibr the return of the
King, whom bad weather was detaining abroad ; but
at last could Avait no longer, and opened itself Avithout
him, in the l)eginning of February 1737. The absent
Kmg's speech Avas eloquent in condemnation of the

c

172 LOBD CAETEnET

riotous insults which had been offered to tlie Grivern-
ment, and it Avas impossible to avoid parliamentary
inquiry ; yet the question somewhat anno^^ed and em-
loarrassed AValpole. He was anxions not to irritate the
Sfotcli, and feared any po^-ible unpleasaiituess in the
proceedings which mii^ht alienate them from his Go-
vernment. Ill-natured ob'^ervers like Lord Ilervey,
who always <iu out of their waj- to find mean, >piteful
reasons when plain common-sense ones are starint^- them
in tlie fare, asseit tliat this difficulty of Walpole's was
Carteret's cliief inducement to take a leadinL'' part in
the parliamentai-y investip-ation. Here Avas Carteret's
iliance, says in effect Hervey ; why should he not turn
Scotland again-t AValpole, and make a grand electoral
move of it P Simpler persons, looking without preju-
dice, see things differently. The support of the Govern-
ment of the country against lawless outbreaks was as
important to Carteret, who had Ijeen a minister and
might at any moment be one again, as it was to Wal-
pole himself Walpole's enthusiastic but inextricably
chaotic biographer distinctly states that Carteret'-
action was a relief to Walpole. and helped him Ciut of
his endjarras>nient.

In opening the rpiestion, Carteret, "while severely
condemning the lawless doings of the Edinbui-gh mob,
declared his own view that the condemnation of
Porteous liad been illegal, and hoped that the conduct
of the magistrates, as well as the action of the rioters,
would be taken into consideration. All thi^ is now of
no consecpience or intere-t to an}- one ; but there are
glimpses of Carteret's personality, and evidence of the
reasoned seriou>ness of his political principles, in the
remaining records of this quite temporary episode.
'In tlie body politic,' -aid L'artcret in one of his

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—IIOME AFFAIRS 178

speeches, ' as in the body natural, while the cause
remains, it is impossible to remove the distemper. .
I sliall never be for sacrihcing the liberties of the
])eople, in order to prevent their engaging in an}^ riotous
proceedings; l)ecause I am sure it maybe done by a
much more gentle and less expensive method. A aviso
and a prudent conduct, and a coustant pursuit (if
upright and just measures, will establish the authorily
as well as tJie power of the Government.' Carteret had
already explained what he meant by the distinction
lietween authority and power. ' Power and authority
we must always look on as two things of a very
different nature. Power, the legislature may give ; but
authority it can give no man. Authority may l)o
acquired by wisdom, liy prudence, by good conduct
and a A'irtuous behaviour ; but it can be granted by no
King, by no potentate upon earth. A man's power
depends upon the post or station lie is in ; but his
authority can depend upon nothing but the cliaracter
he acquires among mankind.' And then in one short
decisive sentence lie clenched his definition by appl5dn!i
it to the Government of the day. ' I must observe, and
I do it without a design of offendmg any person, that
ever since I came into the world, I never saw an ad-
ministration that had, in my opinion, so much power
or so little authority.'

Carteret's proposal that the Provost and magistrates
of Edinburgh s^hould be summoned to the bar of the
House of Lords was agreed to. On the appointed dav,
these ollicials were duly in attendance, and Carteret,
t(_) liclp the House in its management of the business,
skctclied tlie lines wliich the examination should follo\v.
Hut having done so mucli, he very justly thought that
the arrangement of further and decisive action was

174 LOBD CABTEBET

work for the Government itself. Carteret had done, as
he said, his duty so far; it was now time that respon-
sible Government should take its responsible place.
Yet no sooner were the ministers thus compelled to act
for themselves than the conduct of the affair fell into
almost complete confusion. The examination of the
magistrates by the House of Lords showed cleaiiy that
the Edinburgh people had set their hearts on the death
of Porteons, and that the magistrates, thoiigli certainly
forewarned bj' common rumour, had taken no precau-
tionary measures of any kind. Thus neitlier of the
political parties could deny that punishment Avas de-
ser\'ed and necessary ; there was only one r[uestion in
dispute: Wliat shall the punishment be? On this
question the contests were frequent and violent. Those
of the peers who held more closely to Walpole, and
naturally such Scotch peers as the I'uke of Argyle
and his brother Lord Isla, were opposed to any severe
measures. But Newcastle, who was not at present on
very good terms with Walpole, and the Lord (Jhancellor
opposed these milder arguments ; and they were joined
by C'arteret's friend Sherlock, Bishop of Salisbury, who
took this opportunity of repaying ^Vrgylc for tlie attacks
which he had lately made on tlie bishops generallv.
The views of this stronger pai'ty seemed likely to pre-
\ail. and AValpole was induced Ijy the remonstrances of
Xewcastle and the Chancellor to show a little more
sijvcrity. and especially to agree that the chief of the
judges at the trial of Porteous should be immediately
summoned to London. But here AValpole's friend
Hervey, a leading sup])nrter of the moi'e moderate
partv, struck into the argument. He went to the
Queen, with whom he was r,n the most intimate terms,
and urged liis views upon her with vow con.siderable

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIRS 17.5

succesy. Caroline sent for Newcastle and bullied him.
' What the devil,' she said in her strong way, ' signifies
all this bustle about the Scotch judges ? Will worrying
the Scotch judges be any satisfaction to the King for
the insult offered to the Government in the murder of
Torteous ? ' Newcastle, Avho was as timid as he was
ridiculous, Avas terribly frightened by the Queen's
attack ; and from that moment the whole affair went
forward in a half-hearted fashion. The many debates
on the punishment which should be dealt out to Edin-
burgh ended in the gentle resolution that its Provost
should be for ever disgraced, and that one of its city
gates should be pulled down. And even this mild
sentence was in the end made milder still.

The action taken in regard to the conduct of the
judges and the legality of the sentence on Porteuus was
e\cn more feeble and inconsequent. Carteret moved
to declare that the condemnation of Porteous Avas
erroneous, and discussed the question thoroughly from
the leg.al point of vicAV. But practically nothing Avas
done. The Lord Chancellor, in spite of all his Avarni
talk, Avas noAv for <'aution and delay. NeAvcastle,
thoroughly iVightened, did indeed help Carteret by not
speaking in support of him ; but helped in no other
Avay. The thing became almost farcical. The Sccilch
iudgcs had been got up to London, after debates of
jiassionate excitement. The Lords could not agree Avliat
to do Avith them. Sliould they be examined at the bar,
or at the talilc, or on the Avool-sacks ? Seat them on
the Avool-sacks, urged one party. Wliat right have
Scotch judges to sit on English wool-sacks I'' cried
another. To get rid of them altogether, and as soon as
possible, remained the only common-sense escape from
a situation Avhich was becoming ridiculous merely ; and

176 LOBD CABTEBET

a most lame conclusion ended the whole business.
Edinburgh was to pay a fine of 2,000/. to Porteous'
widow.

The combined influence of Court and Government
had been too strong for CartcrL't, and he had been com-
] idled to give way. Ilervey repeats a conversation
which he had witli Carteret after Parliament had
decided that the Scotcli judges should be allowed to go
lioine again. -You saw,' said Carteret, ' I found how
it went, and made my retreat. Whilst Lord Chancellor
and the Duke of Newcastle went along with me, I
thought I could deal with you . . . but I found my
Lord Isla and you had got the better of him and the
Duke of Newcastle at St. Jame-'s ; and when I felt how
matters stood, I retu-ed too.' 'But,' said Hervey. ' if
this Avas your opinion, how came you not to let your
friend Sherlock into the secret Y — for the bishop had
Ijeen anxious to detain the judges in London. ' AVhy did
you not tell him that half the pack of tho~e hounds on
whom you mo-t depended were drawn oft', and the game
e-caped and safe, instead of leaving his lordship there
to bark and yelp by himself, and make the silly he has
done r Carteret's reply was very keen. ' Oh ! he talks
like a parson ; and consequently is -o used to talk to
people that don't mind him. that I left him to find it
out at hi.'~ leisure, and shall liave him again for all this
whenever I want him.'^

Only one other incident in this terribly Vjarren and
unintere-ting period of Engli-h dome-tic history — it
would I)e liard to find a more completely liarren decade
ill home politii - than the period from lTl^7 to 1737 —
reqtiires ^ome notice as 1 Hearing on Carteret"~ political
life. As the King himself had quarrelled with George I.,

' L'lid JlervfyV V-m').';-.-, II. .-JJ.j, ;Ji'l.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIRS 177

so his own son Frederick, Prince of Wales, was on
exceedingly bad terms with George II. What the
particular cause of disagreement was, whether even
there was any one definite cause or not, is not very
clear or at all important. Perhaps as much as any-
thing else, the unfortunate double-marriage scheme, in
the neighbourhood of which Carteret had found himself
for a moment, may have been at the bottom of it.
George I., the grandfather, had never been very eager
for this arrangement, and in the end had quite ceased
to favour it ; while George II. and Frederick AVilliam
of Prussia were never on cordial terms. 'My cousin the
corporal' had very limited admiration for ' my cousin
the dancing-master.' But the third party. Prince
Frederick himself, held very decided views on the
question. The marriage Avith Wilhelmina of Prussia
was a thing he was resolved on, and idle rumour soon
formed a complete myth about it and him. Eumour
A\-as shocked to assert that as all otlier methods seemed
hopeless Frederick had impetuously decided on a secret
match, and that George, hearing of the terrible
piece of insubordination, had imperatively ordered the
discomfited Prince to show himself in London at once.
All of which is mythical ; and fact notes only that
Frederick came to London in December 172^. Till
now the King had very gladly done without his son's
presence; had very willingly left him to liis own idle,
lounging ways at Hanover, lint it was hardly possible
to overlook the heir to the crown any longer ; and in
ol)edience to ordei's, Frederick, aged twenty-two, arrived
in England. He was coolly received, and for some
two or three years did no particular harm to anyljodv
e.\ce[>t hiniself. He lield aloof from politics ; doing-
feeble pcrfornuuices in the French madrigal department

X

178 LOBD CABTEBET

and mild patronage of literature in a slightly imbecile
manner. But he gradually, also in an imbecile manner,
turned towards political affairs and especially towards
the opposition party in politics ; gathered its leading
men about him, and thought to find his own advantage
out of them. Men Avhose reputation was already made,
Carteret, Pulteney, Chesterfield ; younger men whose
reputation was still to come, Pitt, Lyttelton, the Gren-
villes, the ' boy patriots,' as Walpole called them, the
' Cobham cousins,' as others nicknamed them, were more
or less closely mixed up with the foolish Prince. They
were the most brilliant set of pubhc men in London,
and were backed up by the leading men of letters, by
Carteret's friend Swift, Pope, Thomson, G&j, Arbuthnot ;
all disregarded by AValpole, who thought that any Grub-
street scribbler would do as well. These opposition
leaders all despised the Prince ; they could not do
otherwise ; but they accepted what aid he could give
them, and the countenance they showed him filled the
King and Queen with vexation and anger. When
Caroline occasionally indulges in venomous abuse of
Carteret and other opposition statesmen, it is well to
remember that the Queen had a personal reason for
regarding them with bitter ill-will.

In these circumstances, the original estrangement
of the Prince from his parents went on widening in
a rather rapid way. Further causes of dispute arose
from time to time. Frederick quarrelled with his sister
because she ventured to be married before him. He
set himself at the head of the Lincoln's Inn Fields'
opera because the rest of the royal family patronised
the Haymarket and Handel. His conduct was so o-ener-
ally foolish that for some considerable time the King
and Queen could afford to treat him with contemptuous

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIRS 170

indifference. But at last, in ITo-l, he took a decisive
step. He requested an audience witli the King, and
Walpole witli some difficulty persuaded George to grant
it. When admitted, the Prince made three definite re-
quests. He was in debt ; he asked an increased and
regularly paid income. He had been disappointed of
Wilhelmina ; he wished that some other suitable match
should be arranged for him. And he had nothing j)ar-
ticular to do ; he wished to go to the wars. To the
first and last of these demands George had nothing
whatever to say ; but he agreed that the marriage was a
point which should be settled. This one cause of the
Prince's discontent was soon removed. In 1735, at
Hanover, the King's choice fell upon the young Princess
Augusta of Saxe-Gotha ; Frederick, with good enough
grace, assented ; and early in 1736 the marriage took
place.

But, as things turned out, this settlement proved
only the starting-point of a more embittered contro-
versy than ever. The conduct of the opposition on the
occasion of the marriage was very displeasing to the
King ; for their congratulations to the son were so turned
as to be tolerably plain reflections on the father. Pitt
made his maiden speech on this affair, and at the end
of the session Walpole dismissed him from his cornet cy
for it. But far more annoying to George was the action
of the Prince himself. Frederick's not very large allow-
ance of 24,000/. a year had been, on his marriage, in-
creased by his father to 50,000/. In Frederick's view,
this was merely robbing him. George himself, when
Prince of Wales, had had 100,000/. a year ; parliament,
when it settled the Civil List on the King at his acces-
sion, had meant that Frederick should have the same ;
to give him an income of 50,000/. was therefore,

jsr 2

180 LOBD CABTEBET

Frederick argued, really nothing else than to rob him
of half his due. But it was useless to attempt to
move George. The King would not yield, and the
Prince of Wales, insisting that common justice was
denied him, at last resolved to lay his grievances before
parliament.

The Queen would not for some time believe that
Frederick's resolution was really taken, and through all
the stages of the question she showed great concern and
anxiety. Her language about the Prince was terribly
strong, while Princess CaroHne called her brother a
' nauseous beast,' and, like her mother, fervently longed
for his death. The King on no occasion minced his
words, but he took this particular affair with a good
deal more coolness than might have been expected.
The Prince himself was all expectant of the result ;
Lord Chesterfield and some of the younger discontented
Whigs inciting and encouraging him. Political quid-
nuncs devoted themselves to busy speculation on the
number of his probable majority, and Walpole began
to feel some Httle alarm. But Carteret disapproved of
the Prince's action ; so also did Pulteney. The Prince's
success would weaken the influence of the royal family ;
it would be a blow to the Whig party, the chief sup-
porters of the House of Hanover. Frederick, however,
was resolved to go on ; private arguments brought to
bear upon him were decisively rejected. The day for the
parliamentary discussion was fixed, and Walpole, now
fairly frightened by the possible dangers of the position,
as a last resource attempted to secure a coniproiuise.
He urged the King to send a message to the Prince,
promising that a yearly sum should be settled on the
Princess of Wales, and that Frederick's own income,
which he received simply at the King's pleasure, should

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIBS l.sl

be formally settled on him. The message was seat,
but King and Queen were both exceedingly enraged
at its reception. Frederick's reply, quite respectful,
but perfectly decisive, simply stated that the whole
affair had now passed from his hands, and that he
could not receive any proposition in regard to it.

The two opposition statesmen who blamed Frederick
for forcing this discussion on parhament were the two
who, as leaders, found themselves compelled to intro-
duce the subject early in 1737. Pulteney in the Com-
mons, and, on the following day, Carteret in the Lords,
urged that Frederick should be treated as his father
had been before him, chiefly supporting their contention
by arguments of historical precedent. Walpole, to the
extreme delight of the Court, managed to defeat Pul-
teney by a fair, if not very large, majority; a victory
gained by the abstention of a considerable number of
Tories. Carteret's speech was, on the express evidence
of Hervey, a cold performance ; it is probable that,
after the defeat in the Commons, Carteret renewed his
objections to touch this question in the Lords, but was
overruled. It is certain that Carteret despised the
Prince ; certain also that he had no wish needlessly
and uselessly to offend the Court. But the resolution
to press the thing had been taken, and Carteret, with
hardly concealed dislike, had to comply. The victory
of the Court party in the Upper House was of course
easy.

The whole course of this miserable affair had rather
weakened AValpole witli the King and Queen. It was
Walpole who had advised the message to the Prince ;
and the message had been a complete failure. A
victory had indeed been won in the House of Commons,
but could not, in the circumstances, be much boasted

182 LOBD CARTERET

of. The Queen, too, was entering into communications
with Carteret, and hstening to his advice and argu-
ments. This filled AYalpole with alarm at once ; and in
his dogLfed, common-sense fashion he spoke very plainly
h) Caroline about it, introducing Carteret at the very
outset of his expostulations. The Queen told Walpole
that Carteret had given her explanations of his conduct ;
that he had been driven against his will to support the
Prince of Wales. ' He says,' continued the Queen, ' that
he found you were too well established in my favour
for him to hope to suppjlant you ; and, upon finding he
could not be first, that he had mortified his pride so far
as to take the resolution of submitting to be second ;
but if you would not permit him even to serve under
you, who is there that could blame him if he continued
to fight against you r A^liich seems a reasonable
question. But Walpole had the inevitable answer
ready : in no circumstances could he and Carteret
continue to work together. The Prime ^tlinister plainly
told the Queen that she must .choose between them. - ' I
knoAV, Madam,' continued Sir Piobert, ' how indecent it
is generally for a minister and servant of the Crown to
talk in this style, and to say there is anybody with"
whom he will not serve. I therefore ask your pardon ;
but I thought I should be still more in the Avrong if
I suffered your Majesty to make any agreement ^vith
Carteret, and afterwards quitted your service on that
event without having previously told you I would do
so. " ^ The same unwavering re-olve that in no case
would he accept Carteret as a colleague was about
this same date announced by Walpole to Xewca-tle
also. Carteret and Xewca-tle had both been West-
minster boys, and returned together one night from a

' Lord Ilervey's M-ia-it-f, II. I'.M-^'.'O.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—HOME AFFAIBS 183

"Westminster School dinner. Newcastle, who, says
Hervey, was half-intoxicated, Avent that same night to
Walpole's, and, probably in a state of maudUn imbe-
cility, offered himself as surety for Carteret's good be-
haviour, if only AValpole would accept him. Walpole's
brother, Horatio, and Newcastle's brother, Henry Pelham,
alone were present. There was no ambiguity about
Walpole's reply. ' I am glad, my lord, you have given
me this opportunity once for all to let you know ni}'
detemiined sentiments on this matter. . . . Your Grace
must take your choice between me and him ; and if
3'ou are angrj" at ni}' saying this, I care not ; I have said
it to your betters, and I'll stick to it.' ^

To Walpole's asseverations and arguments the Queen
replied with assurances of her confidence ; and, the
parhamentary session of 1737 being now over, the
Premier left London for his usual hunting and riotous
joviality at Houghton. He was hardly back again when
he was renewing his complaints at the Court, and tor-
tured by his anxious jealousy of Carteret. He thought
that jMrs. Clayton — better known as Lady Sundon, one
of Voltaire's friends during his English sojourn — was
urging Carteret's claims on the Queen, and in language
(if his habitual brutality called her a ' damned invete-
rate bitch ' for her pains. Caroline herself told Walpole
that Carteret was writing the history of his own times ;
and vague rumours spread of mysterious meetings be-
tween Carteret and Lady Sundon, ' on the Queen's gravel
walk in St. James's Park,' where the conversation turned
on this literary performance ; and where, if Lady
Sundon and Hervey are to be literally trusted, this one
definite sentence was spoken by Carteret : 'Madam, if
you dare own at Court you talk to so obnoxious a man

' Lord Hervey 's X'emoiis, II. 3-34, 385.

184 LOED CARTERET

as I am, }Oii may tell the Queen I have been giving her
fame this morning ; ' a remark Avhich, in that precise
form, it is tolerably safe to say -was never made by
Carteret. Caroline once exchanged a few words with
Hervey on this liistory of Carteret's, when the irascible
little Bang — who did not yet know how valuable Carteret
Avas to be to him — broke out : ' Yes, I dare say he will
paint you in fine colours, t/iat dirty liar ! ' ' AMiy not?
said the Queen. ' CTOod things come out of dirt some-
times ; I have eat very good asparagus raised out of
dung.' What a charming Court ! ^

George's passionate outbursts against a statesman
of Avhom, so far, he kncAv only tlii-, that he was in
opposition, are, of course, of no real significance.
Caroline, though her language lost little of its coarse
vigour, was distinctly inclining towards Carteret. But
it was just at this period that the quarrel in the royal
family took an exceedingly aggravated turn ; and tliis
aggi'avation biings with it distinct proof that the King
and Queen judged and spoke of Carteret not as a states-
man — they had practically had no experience of him in
office — but entirely from a personal point of view. He
was more or less mixed up in a bitter family quarrel.
It was little to his taste to be concerned in it at all ; and
some few years later, Avlien he was himself practically
Prime Minister, he Avas doubtless thinking of the vexa-
tion caused to everj^ one AA^ho had anything to do Avith
this miserable squabble, when he wrote to one of the
English ambas-adors abroad: 'The family all'airs of
Princes are of such delicacy, that ministers in their Avit-
Avill never interfere if they can pos-ibly help it.' ^ It Avas.

' At this period, C'arteitt. OlifMei field, and Bolingbroke were all a.=-
sumed to be writiiiL' Memoirs uf their time. Nothing k known of ( 'artt-refs
work.

' Add. AISS. 22,.>!4: fo].r,r,.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE-HOME AFFAIBS 185

liowever, impossible for Carteret as a political leader to
stand entirely apart from tlie dispute ; and nothing is
clearer than the fact that the language used by the King
and Queen about him depended entirely on the fluctua-
tions of this domestic quarrel, and on nothing else what-
ever. If Carteret was thought to be encouraging the
Prince in what his parents regarded as outrageous
behaviour, then at Court endless variations were played
on the one theme — ' liar.' But when it was rumoured
that Carteret disapproved of Fredei'ick's conduct, the
lancjuasfe of the Court veered round ; the ' liar ' was
followed by an explanatory mitigating ' but.' In this
wa}" the temporary personal judgments of a very clever
woman and a very foolish man found adequate expres-
sion ; but the language, either of praise or blame, is
from no other point of view of even the slightest im-
portance.

A vague sort of reconciliation had been brought
about in the roj^al family at the close of the quarrel-
some session of 1737 ; and in the summer recess King,
Queen, Prince, and Princess were all staying together at
Hampton Court. This idyllic state of things did not
last. Very suddenly, without a syllable of information
to the King or Queen, the Prince hurried his wife away
to St. James's Palace, in order that her child miglit not
be born in the house where his parents were. Feeble
excuses were made by the Prince in attempted justifi-
cation of his conduct, but there was practically no
defence. The anger which George and Caroline had
previously felt against their son was trifling compared
with the passion which now consumed them. Caroline,
indeed, in common decency could do no less than visit
her daui^'hter- in-law on this interesting occasion : no one
had any fault to find with the Princess, who simply had

lyO LOBD CABTEBET

to do what her husband told her. But after that one
visit, all intercourse with the Prince was instantly
broken off. The King and Queen sent him a message,
expressing their extreme anger, and bluntly declining
to see him. It was all that Walpole could do to pre-
vent them from declaring open war against him. George
refused to allow Frederick to remain in his house, and
sent him a peremptory order to quit St. James'%. ' Thank
God, to-morrow night the puppy will be out of my house,'
the King exclaimed after despatching this order ; and
Caroline over and over again repeated, 'I hope in God I
shall never see him again.' His guard was taken from
him; foreign ministers were requested not to visit him ;
and exclusion from the King's Court was the inevitable
penalty for attendance at the Prince's.

On Frederick's arrival at St. James's with his wife,
he had summoned Carteret, Piilteney, and Chesterfield
to meet him. They all not only privately disapproved
of hi- conduct, but plainly- told him so. Instantly the
King and Queen began to speak well of Carteret. He
might be a great knave, said Caroline, but she would
not beheve that he had had anything to do wdtn her
son's conduct on tins occasion. The King said to Wal-
pole : ' I know Ctateret disapproves thi-; w^hole affair.'
Such royal sentiments were too dangerous : and Walpole
at once proceeded to check them. He was far more
afraid of Carteret at Court than in the House of Lord^.
and thouglit him the most likely person to supplant him
in the favour of the King and Queen, who both, on the
express evidence of Speaker Onflow, di-liked Carterut
less than any other member of the opp< isition. ^ Wal-
pole therefore went again to Court and attacked Carte-
ret. Carteret was a very lucky man, insinuated Walpole,

' On-lciw's It. iniirhs; inCox^-, T]'idi,'At, 11. -jCO.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—BOME AFFAIBS 187

to be high in favour in the two hostile Courts. Carteret
asserted that his visits to the Prince were only formal ;
and indeed, while the ro5'al quarrel was at its very
height he had been at his own seat in Bedfordshire ;
but Walpole dwelt so alarmingly on the subject to the
King and Queen that these exceedingly fickle royal per-
sonages once more changed their tone. The old ' liar '
theme was once again produced ; the Princess Caroline
on this occasion performing a remarkable variation. If
the Queen were actually to meet Carteret at the Prince's
house, said this vivacious performer, Carteret was
capable of endeavouring to persuade her that the devil
had put on his figure, aeuletneiit pour lui rendre un
iiiauvals office aaprl's d'elle. The Princess's conceptions
of Carteret's persuasive powers, and of the devil's un-
deniable interest in the personalities of partj' politics,
are wanting in moderation ; but there are excuses for
the erratic vivacity of a young girl. For Sir Eobert
Walpole there is no excuse. He did not disdain in his
jealous dread of Carteret to injure his rival by direct
falsehood and deception. It is his own devoted foUoAver
and Carteret's opponent who tells the tale. Tlie Prince
of Wales, at his house in Pall Mall, received the con-
gratulations of the London Corporation on the birth of
his daughter. Printed copies of the King's message to
the Prince were distributed on this occasion ; and moving
comments relieved the feelings of those present on the
conduct of a father who had turned his son and his
daughter-in-law out of his house. The proceedings at
this meeting were reported by AValpole to the King and
Queen, and he informed them that it was Carteret who
had had the message printed for this occasion. The
King and Queen doubtless took Walpole's word ; but
posterity knows better. More than a week before.

188 LORD CAETEEET

Walpole himself had informed Hervey that he designed
to let the message slip into print as if by accident.
Hervey adds his own mild comment : ' I am apt to
imagine that he put that upon Lord Carteret which
was entirely his own doing.' ^

Walpole might' well have avoided such despicable
trickery as this, and on this particular occasion it does
not seem to have done Carteret very much harm. The
Court was once more veering round, and definitely in-
clining towards belief in Carteret and conviction that
he was no real adherent of the Prince of Wales. He
never had been ; he despised him while he used him.
Frederick, who was a very imbecile creature, no doubt
thought that Carteret and Pulteney were his very
obedient servants, and that he could do "svith them
as he chose. ' He had a notion,' says Lord Shelburne,
' that he could get round anybody by talking nonsense
to them, and after playing a dirty tiick, or being caught
in some infamous lie by such a man as Lord Granville
[Carteret], he Avould take them into a comer, and say
he had " raccomode " all that.' ^ ^uch a man as Carteret
thought otherwise. ' AThat the devil else can you think
I ever went to the Prince for P ' asked Carteret, when
Lyttelton reproached him for using Frederick and fling-
ing him away. Caroline at length began definitely to
see that this was the real state of the case ; and Wal-
pole found her language once more tending towards
justification of Carteret's action. As Prime ]\lLnister,
Walpole' s opportunities for expostulation and argument
Avere unlimited. He knew the Queen's heart was set on
getting the better of her son. The question, therefoi'e,

' Hervey, Memoire, II. 4Cl'.

^ Slielliurne's Autuli'.ijrui.lnj -. in Lord E. Fitzmaurice's ShtHjurne, I.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—EOME AFFAIRS 189

■vvliich it was Walpole's interest to press upon tlie Queen,
narrowed itself down to this : Which of the two men,
Walpole or Carteret, did she think could better lielp
lier to defeat the Prince ? ' Is your son to be bought ?
Walpole asked the Queen. ' If you Avill buy him, I will
get him cheaper than Carteret. And yet, after all I
liave said, if your majesty thinks he can serve you
better than me [-svV] in this contest with the Prince, I
own it is of such consequence to you to conquer in this
strife, that I advise you to discard me and take Carteret
to-morrow.'

Fortunatel}', the royal quarrel need not be followed
any further. Its crowning bitterness had been in
August and September 1737 ; before the year was
over Queen Caroline was dead. On her death-bed she
recommended her husband to Walpole's care ; and even
if she liad lived, no change in the Government was likely
to have taken place. She had received Walpole's
arguments against Carteret with what the minislcr
himself called a flood of professions of favour ; and
while Walpole remained in the Government there was
no chance of admission for Carteret in any capacity
Avhatever. ' T am a rock,' said Walpole at this time to
two or three of his political friends ; ' I am determined
in no shape will I ever act with that man.'

190 LORD GABTEBET

CHAPTER Yl.

OPPOSITION TO AVALPOLE : FOEEIGX AFFAIRS.

1733-1742.

So far, on the side of domestic politics at least, the
opposition could hardly be said to have had much
practical effect. AValpole was sitting even more firmly
in power in 1737 than in 1730. But side by side with
these debates on the Excise, on Porteous, on the Prince
of Wales, the poHtical afiairs of Europe had repeatedly
called for discussion ; and it was precisely in this year
1737 that foreign complications began to threaten very
'•eriou; disturbances. This, too, was always the ground
on which Walpole was most open to attack. His foreign
policy had not only to defend it=elf against the parlia-
mentary assaults of the opposition, but it was, on personal
and pohtical grounds, distinctly repugnant to the King
himself. Even Caroline warmly objected to the peace
policy of her favoured minister. When one looks back,
at the safe distance of a century and a half, on the first
ten years of the reign of George IT., it is undeniable that
AYalpole's dogged determination to keep England out of
Polish election wars and the imending confusions and
complications of the Empire wa- absolutely right. But
in 1737 a question was arising -nith regard to which it
is quite possible to beheve that Walpole's view was
wrong. In anv case, the feeling of the nation was with

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOREKiN AFFAIRS 191

the opposition on this point ; and Walpole's action
regarding it was the prelude to his falL

The second Treaty of Vienna, which liad more or
less satisfied Spain about its Duchies and the Emperor
about his Pragmatic Sanction, was not allowed to keep
Europe at peace for xcry long. Soon after the begin-
ning of 1733, August, King of Poland and Elector of
Saxony, died : August the Strong, who, deposed by
Charles the Twelfth, had in turn managed to depose his
rival, and had been King of Poland ever since. His
death was the signal for a continental quarrel Avhich
involved Europe from S})ain to Piussia. The sole ques-
tion at issue : Wlio shall be the new King of Poland ?
niiglit have seemed simple enough; but it really meant
a war in which all the leading powers of the Continent
took part; and to keep even England out of it was a
very hardly won triumph for Walpole.

Stanislaus Leczinski, ex-King of Poland,whom Charles
XII. had set up in 1704, and August the Strong had
in turn deposed in 1709, had, after visiting Charles at
Bender, been living quietly and comfortably on the
borders of France, where his daughter, married to Louis
XV., was now Queen. It would be suitable to the dig-
nity of France that its Queen's father, who had once
been King of Poland, should be so again ; and his candi-
dature was naturally supported by Fleury. On the
other liand, the Empire and Eussia favoured Frederick
Augustus, son of August the Strong ; for Eussia feared
that if Stanislaus were once again on his old throne
he miglit help Sweden to recover what she had lost to
Eussia ; and the Emperor, otherwise disinclined to the
presence of a powerful French influence so near his own
doors, had still his inevitable Pragmatic Sanction to
secure in every European change. He was anxious to

192 LOBD CABTEBET

get a King of Poland who "would guarantee that ;
and young August, eager for the Emperor's help in an
election which otherwise would probaljly be unsuccess-
ful for him. had already thoroughly promised to do so.
But the first steps taken were in favour of Stanislaus
and France. The kingship of Poland was elective,
and the question therefore neces-arily involved bribery;
the Pohsh Primate, into whose hands during an inter-
regnum sovereign rights fell, had already been secured
to the French view in the usual way. By his advice
the Polish electors swore to clioose no foreigner for
their King ; Augustus, a Saxon, thus seemed to be effec-
tively excluded. But hereupon the Emperor and the
Czarina struck in with their armies, and from their two
respective sides, the Czarina from Lithuania, the Emperor
from Silesia, prepared to march on Poland. France
instantly delivered a counter-stroke, sending 60,000 men
under Marshal Berwick to the Ehine, ready to cross
over and fall upon the Emperor if he should venture to
interfere against the French candidate. Yet Fleury did
not wish war ; and most certainly Charles, poor in men
and in money, in an almost defenceless condition, neither
wished nor Avas ready for it. He was so eager to avoid
any attack from France that he hoped to leave Berwick
without any excuse for falling upon him ; and, counter-
manding the order to his troops, he -topped their march
towards Poland. This fir-t French success was soon
followed by another. Tlie actual election began in
Poland in August 1733, and according to law must be
completed within six weeks. Dressed in disguise as a
merchant, Stanislaus arrived at "VYar.-aw. and before the
middle of September was actually cho-en King there.
The 'success (>i France seemed complete.

But tliis wa- bv no means the end of the thino-.
Tliougli tlie Emperor had countermanded the advance

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIBS 193

of his troops, the Eussians had marched on and were
joined by the Polish party in opposition to Stanislaus.
After exactly ten days of kingship, Stanislaus found
himself obliged to liee from AVarsaw. Another election
was held, the Eussian soldiers being now actually in the
Warsaw suburbs ; and just a single day within the legal
time the crown, by the vote of a handful, was given to
Augustus.

France was indignant at the insult to its Queen's
father, and immediately declared war on the Emperor.
It was useless for Charles to assert that he had taken
no active steps against Stanislaus ; that he had marched
no troops into Poland. The presence of his army on
the frontier was essentially the same thing, argued
France ; and Avithout further waste of time seized Lor-
raine and crossed the Ehine into Germany. On the
Italian side also France was prepared ; had gained over
Spain by lai'ge promises for Don Carlos in Italy ; and
had secured the King of Sardinia by holding out to him
too a share of the spoil. All thus being in order here.
Marshal Yillars passed the Alps ; and the Emperor,
unready everywhere, was on all sides beaten upon
and almost reduced to despair. Before the year was out
Villars and the King of Sardinia, on the one side, had
already got Lombardy and the Milanese ; and on the
other, Lorraine ^A'as lost, and Berwick was preparing
for the siege of Pliilipsburg, to gain himself a bridge
across the Ehine, and by it penetrate well into Germany
next season.

When, therefore, the Enghsh parhament met in
January 1734, the Emperor's affairs were in a very bad
-way. The royal speech could make the satisfactory
announcement that England was standing entirely apart
from the war ; but how long this happy isolation might

1D4 LOBD CABTEBET

last was altogether problematical. Every hour the
Emperor's condition was becoming worse and worse.
A trifling accident might at any moment embroil
England and Spain, and then the Gibraltar question
would once more demand painful attention. The future
was fuU of possible ri.-)ks and dangers ; yet the Grovern-
ment did nothing more than slightly increase the forces.
It was not tiU the very short parliamentary session was
about to close that a royal message was sent down asking
for a vote of confidence. Let the Eing, said this message,
have power during the recess to increase the forces if
necessary, and let parUament promise to make good
any action which the existing state of affairs might in-
duce the King to take. The proposal caused very warm
debates. It was not a vote of confidence at aU, said
tliose who opposed it ; it was a vote of credit, unconstitu-
tional, a danger to the Hberties of the nation, making par-
liament a farce. Government, on the other side, argued
that in the circumstances it was essential. Money and
men had not been asked for at the beginning of the
session, when the utter breakdown of the Ernperor could
not have been foreseen ; but now this mi-fortune had
actually happened, and the King and Cabinet must ha^e
increased joowers. Carteret, on constitutional grounds,
took the lead in opposing this message. It was not
factious opposition ; Carteret by no means found
fault -with the policy of vigorous defence. His only
objection on this side was that measures for the
national security had not been taken long before.
But now that the Government were at length doing
something, why, asked Carteret, were thev doing it- in
this unconstitutional v.'ay ? Why were in-actically un-
limited poweis to be granted to the King, and why was
parliament to bind itself beforehand to approval of his

OPPOSITIOX TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIBS 195

action, whatever it might be ? Do the thing in a strictly
constitutional wa)', ^Yas Carteret's point, or leave it
alone altogether. Then, if during the recess imminent
danger should arise, the King had power at once to
increase his forces and borrow moue)^, and parliament
should immediately be assembled.

After long debates, the Government had its way
easily enough. But it does not seem that Walpole
was personally very eager in the matter. He wished
more to humour and quiet the King than anything else.
For the unfortunate condition of the Emperor alarmed
George. He was anxious to give the help which for a
long time back the Emperor had been eagerly demanding ;
the money to fight the French, which was due to him
by the last Treaty of Vienna. If George could have had
his own way, Charles would have had no occasion to
complain. The King of England was completed' Ger-
man ; here was the Emperor, his official head, reduced to
a desperate condition by the House of Bourbon. And
George was fond of war, in heart a soldier ; he seems
to have held the curious conviction that he ])0ssesscd
really unusual militaiy genius. In a pleasantly meta-
phorical style during these early months of 1734, the
small martial King daily rhapsodised to AValpole on the
laurels of war, and their extreme suitability to his own
person. \A"alpole, entering the royal presence fidl of
business and papers, with a multitude of claims to
satisfy, appointments to make, instructions to receive,
found it hopeless to get himself so much as Hstened to ;
nothing but militai'y harangues, battles, sieges, for-
tunes, dwelt lingeringly upon by a royal Othello to a
listener who was not seriously inclined to hear these
things. The martial enthusiasm over, George would
give the signal to go ; and when the minister left the

2

106 LOBD CABTEBET

cabinet, his business was no further advanced than when
he had entered it. Still, in his really difficult task,
Walpole clung firmly to his dogged resolution to keep
out of the war. On the eve of a general election to
plunge England into a war to give a King to Poland !
AVait at lea>t, urged the minister to his master, till the
new parliament is chosen ; and meanwhile he himself
kept on liis own way in spite of all opposition ; returned
vague answers to the imploring, and finally indignant,
Emperor ; bore all the abuse from Vienna ;• held out
against King, Queen, and even his own fellow-ministers ;
and carried his point successfully. ' I told the Queen
this morning,' he said one day in 1734, ' " Madam, there
are 50,000 men slain this year in Europe, and nol one
Englishman." '

But though Walpole would take no active part in
the European quarrel, he was willing enough to try what
peaceful intervention could do. In July 1734: he sent
his diplomatic brother Horatio over to the Hague, to
gain Holland's assistance in an offer of mediation.
Horatio Avas successful ; but the Empei'or would not
hear of such a thing, and even did all he could to
bring about the fall of AValpole. In the end, however,
his misfortunes compelled him to listen to the pohcy of
peace. The war had continued to go hopelessly again-t
him. Don Carlos, leaving hi? Duchies, had marched
south, and had been declared King of Xaplc- and Sicilv
as Charles the Third. On the German side, though
Berwick had been killtd in the siege of Phihpsbui-g,
Prince Eugene had not attacked his army, and the
French had taken the h)\xn. In such circumstance-,
very reluctantly the Emperor agreed to ac-cept the
mediation of the ^ea powers; and the English royal
speech, in January 1730, announced that Encrland

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 197

and Holland had made ready a plan of reconcili-
ation.

The parliament to wliicli this speech was made was
a new one. The opposition had hoped, though not
too confidently, that the result of the general election
might in)prove their prospects. Carteret, writing to
the Earl of INIarchmont in June 1734:, liad said : 'We
do not despair, nor are too sanguine. We shall find
ourselves much weakened in the House of Lords ; we
liave at present reasonable hopes of a very strong party
in the House of Commons.'^ These hopes were not
very strikingly fulfilled ; for though AValpole's majority
was smaller than it had been, it still remained quite
large enough for the minister's purpose. The opposition
felt slightly depressed. Yet there -were some successes
and encouragements. Young men of ability were
entering parliament, and -were naturally opposed to
Walpole's policy. This year 1735 first saw Pitt in par-
liament as member for Old Sarum. It was Lyttelton's
first session, too ; his, and Eichard Grenville's, after-
wards Earl Temple, Pitt's intimate friends. On the
Avhole, the j^rogress of the opposition, if not very
remarkable, was distinctly appreciable, and its parlia-
mentary activity Avas very decided.

The notew(_>rthy point of the royal speech was its
reference to the war. England and Holland had
concerted plans for attempting to restore peace and
for preventing, if possible, another campaign on the
continent. The powers at war had agreed to listen to
tlie mediation. Therefore, urged the Government, let
parUament now play its due part ; express its satisfac-
tion with the condition of affairs ; and, al)uve all, vote
abundant supijlies. But the opposition w\as by no

' Marchnont Papcrf, II. 28.

lOH LOED CABTERET

means inclined to such a complacent view of the situa-
tion. Carteret, leading the opposition in the Lords,
and backed by Che-terfield, pierced through the various
rose-water declarations of the official speech. One
more treaty was to be added to the endless number of
recent agreements, all of them intended to preserve the
peace of Europe, and not one of them doing it. As for
English concert with the States General, what was the
real meaning of that ? Wliile Eiigland was spending
money and increasing her force-, Holland did not add a
man or a ship. The concert seemed chiefly to con'-i-t
in telling Holland from time to time lio-w much we were
spending. Then, when he came to the real heart of
the question, Carteret pointed out that the acceptance
of the mediation really meant nothing. France and
the Emperor had given a general assent to mediation ;
but they had not given any assent at all to the particu-
lar plan which had been devised. Any one with a
smattering of grammar and mastery of pot-hooks could
draw up a plan ; but what after all was the use of
that .^ Carteret was far too shrewd to fancy that any
mere plan, however l^eautiful in itself, could be of much
real value ; well-meaning mediators might produce
harmonious arrangements on paper ; but the side that
had been stronger in war would have very much it-
own way in negotiations. Considering, therefore, tliat
matters were still in an altogether doubtful condition,
Carteret was not inclined to expre-:^ any blind approval
of the action of the Government. He de.-ired simply to
assure the King of a general support, and of a readiness
for action if that should be necessary ; but he would
have no comphments over what wa- past, and no
premature exultation over a very uncertain future.
The opposition was numerically too feeble to make

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAIRS 190

uiucli impression, and the Commons soon voted the
desired increase of the forces. Carteret spoke with
very great distinction against this augmentation. Even
Lord Hervey, usually so sparing of a good word for an
opponent of Walpole, writes on tliis occasion of Car-
teret's ' strengtli, knowledge, and eloquence,' and even
wishes that he could give a report of Carteret's speecli ;
a wish at every date hopelessly impossible to gratify.
But Carteret's eloquence and strength, supported by
Chesterfield's wit and satire, had of course no chance
against the Government majority; though again Walpole
himself was perhaps not very enthusiastic in support of
his own policy, while he yielded so far to George's
military notions, and allowed him at least the pleasure
of possessing an army which he might not use.

Carteret's shrewd suspicion that the proposed
mediation would fail was soon fully justified. France
rejected it, and everything was thrown loose again.
Once more the Emperor made a last and most imploring-
appeal to England. He was in a state of almost com-
plete collapse, and was reduced to despair, almost to
mental insanity, when England decisively refused him
assistance. This refusal was almost entirely due to
Walpole's dogged determination. He was ready enough
to exhaust all the resources of diplomacy in favour of
the Emperor ; but venture men or money in the busi-
ness he would not. Though his first pacific effort had
failed, Walpole undertook to try again ; attempting,
this time, to secure a preliminary agreement with
France. It was now well enough known that Fleury's
real design in the whole affair was Lorraine ; that he
was resolved to quit the war with Lorraine in his
possession. Accepting this inevitable basis, Walpole
came to an understanding with France ; it remained his

200 LORD CARTERET

difficult task to gain over the Emperor to the settlement.
The negotiations Avere very intricate, but preliminaries
of peace were at length drawn up, and a suspension of
arms on the Rhine was the result, in October 17oo.
As for Stanislaus, in favour of whose Polish claims
France liad simulated such tragic indignation, nothing
was required for him but an acknoAvledgrnent of titular
royal dignity, the solid article being left in possession of
Augustus. But France for lierself (nominally for her
Queen's father as long as he should live) got definite
possession of Lorraine ; its Duke Francis, -oon to l;e
Maria Theresa's husband, receiving Tuscany in exchange.
Don Carlos, already in possession of Xaples and .-^icily.
kept them ; lost Lombardy was restored to the Emperor,
and France undertook to guarantee his Pragmatic
Sanction. Spain was quite overlooked Ijy France, and
left out remorselessly in the cold, much to Spain's angry
disgust, though she was forced to accept the European
arrangement. So one more Treaty of Vienna was added
to the already considerable number of such article-,
securing peace to Europe for at least two or tliree
years. Onee again AValpole, though never pretending
to any mastery of foreign politic-, had been successful ;
and, however the more insignificant of hi; opponent-
might cavil and deride, the leading men in opposition
did not attempt to withhold their approval. Bohng-
broke, in his acrid way, declared that if the Government
had had any hand in procuring this peace, there was
more sense in them than he thought there had been ; and
that if they had not, they had far better fortune than
they de-erved. Pulteney was glad of the happy event,
whoever might have had the honour of accomplisliing
it ; and Carteret in lii- homely fu~liion called Walpole
the luckiest dog that ever meddled with public afliiir;.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 201

Walpole's peace policy had succeeded, but it was
for the last time. All events were already steadily and
irresistibly gravitating towards war between England
and Spain, and AValpole, in struggling against such a
conclusion, was striving uselessly against fate. War
was inevitable, and, unless war is never justifiable,
England's war against Spain in 1739 was a just one.
Cleared of all diplomatic chicanery and technicalities,
and of the various petty questions which always
accompany a great crisis, and often for a time loom
larger than the essential point at issue, the question for
decision really was : Has Spain the right to appropriate
the New World to herself, and to shut England out
from half the globe? Spain, through her not very
magnificent patronage of Columbus, had undoubtedly
the external credit, if Columbus had all the real glory,
of the re-discovery of America. But because the httle
boats in which Columbus and his comrades touched one
or two minute specks of the new hemisphere were
Spanish, Spain had set up a monstrous and altogether
inadmissible claim. All America was Spanish ; a Bull
of the Pope had satisfactorily sanctioned that ; the
highest of clerical persons had by his Bull made all
America a part of Spain. To the other European
nations the divinity of the Pope's proceeding iu this
matter -was by no means apparent ; and as occasion
offered, and especially after Spain's naval power was
broken and the Armada had gone to ignominious ruin,
England, Holland, and France planted themselves here
and there on the coasts and islands of America, and did
such trade and commerce as were possible. Spain still
held to the divinity of her Bull, and looked with jealous
anger on the violation of her sacred property ; but in
the circumstances could not effectually stop it, and

202 LOBD GABTEBET

only by various treaties and agreements tried to limit
it to the minimum. In order to cripple the trade of
the Old World -with the Xew, commerce might not act
at all without a licence, and its dealings were restricted
to certain well-defined articles ; all else was contraband,
to be seized by the Spanish officials in the exercise of
their Eight of Search. The English South Sea Company
was only permitted to send once a year one ship of
fixed burthen to trade at Vera Cruz under these limited
conditions.

Treaty arrangements of this very conditional kind
are only definable as treaties for the production of
contraband trade. That was their inevitable result,
with the connivance even of Spain herself when Eng-
land happened to be on good terms with her. The one
South Sea ship was attended at a respectful distance by
various others, which refilled her when her one legal
cargo was exhausted. Smuggling traders sent off their
long-boats to the shore, and obtained American gold
and silver for their Old World wares. Accidents of a
slightly fabulous kind would often compel a vessel to
put into a Spanish port ; and opportunities for trade
were not wanting while the mythical repairs were being
done. So that the notion of confining the trade to the
one annual ship began to seem a meaningless condition
to tlie English merchants. But when, as under the fir.-t
two Geoige- was too often the case, the relation.s be-
tween England and Spain were the reverse of friendly,
things w^ere altogether different. Then the Spaui-h
guarda-costas were exceedingly vigilant ; boats were
boarded under just suspiciijns or not ; cutlasses flaslied,
and very angry feelings were rou-ed on each side. They
were thousands of miles and montlis of time distant
from Spain and England; very liot tilings, just and

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAIRS ann

unjust, were done in those years on those otherwise
silent seas.

Ominous mutterings began to be heard in England.
The journalists and pamphleteers, the loungers in the
coffee-houses, the merchants in the city, ga^•e signs of
unmistakable and angry excitement. Wherever one
went, stories of the Spanish cruelty were on every hand.
At length, towards the close of 1737, the merchants
took a decisive step. Many hundreds of them signed a
petition, imploring the King's redress for the wrongs
which they had already suffered, and begging his
efficient protection for the future. The King handed
the petition to the Cabinet ; the Cabinet heard the mer-
chants ; and Newcastle drew up a memorial to be de-
spatched to Spain. The memorial was sent, demanding
satisfaction for the cruelties and injustices of the Spanish
officers and guarda-costas. JSTo answer had been re-
cei\'ed when parliament met at the beginning of
February 1738, and a session which was the decisive
beginning of the end of Walpole's power commenced.

The session was practically monopolised by the
Spanisli question ; and it is worth while to mention a
debate which took place near the beginning of it ; for
partisan and partial writers have repeatedly misrepre-
sented the conduct and views of some at least of the
opposition on this particular occasion. It was a ques-
tion of the numbers of the army for the year. Eeduce
the army by some five thousand men, urged Pitt and
Pulteney and Lyttelton in the Commons, and Carteret
in the Lords. Yet, scornfully and exultingly the par-
tisan writers urge, it was precisely these statesmen who
were loudest in reproach of the behaviour of Spain,
and were doing all they could to bring about a war.
What inconsistency, petulance, factious opposition ;

204 LORD CABTEBET

with one breath they threaten war ; with tlie next they
weaken tlie army ! "Wliether or not there were factiously
inconsii^teut members of the opposition is a question of
little interest and no profit ; but that Carteret was not
one of tliem is certain. EevieAving on this occasion the
general condition of Europe, he admitted that as far as
England was conce:-ned Spain Avas tlie one threatening
spot upon the map. He spoke of the guarda-costas
and their insults ; and, though using statesmanhke re-
serve, did not allow his meaning to be mistaken. ' Peace,
my lords, is a desirable thing for any nation, especially
a trading nation ; but whoever thinks that a peace
ought to be purchased at the expense of the honour
of his country, will at last find himself egregiou-ly
mistaken.' How then could Carteret, recognising the
possibility of war, urge a reduction of the numbers of
the army ? The answer is very simple. ' In such a
Avar, Avhat can Ave have to do with a land army r . . . .
It is by means of our navy only that Ave can pretend to
force Spain to a comphance AA'ith our just demands ;
and, therefore, if we are in danger of being involved in
a war Avith that nation, we ought to reduce our army,
that ire may icith the more ease augment our navy.'
The Government, of course, objected to Carteret's pro-
posal ; the Duke of Xewrastle, Avith well-grounded
expies-i'ju; of diffidence, attempted to answer him.
' Always extremely sorry when I differ from him,' said
the apologetic Duke ; though Carteret must generally
haA'e been glad. Carteret's A-iews Avere defeated ; but
it is only a Avilful misreading of the facts Avhich can
call his conduct factious or inconsistent.

A few days before this speech of Carteret's the dis-
cussion on the Spani-h question had begun in earnest.
The "West Indian merchant- presented to parliament a

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOPEIGN AFFAIRS 205

petition which covered all the ground of the dispute by
relating how Spanish promises were broken, treaties
disregarded, and English subjects plundered and im-
prisoned. Let the House consider all this, implored
the merchants, and see how to put an end to it. The
flame broke out at once. ' Seventy of our brave sailors
are now in chains in Spain ! ' exclaimed one patriotic
member ; ' our countrymen in chains and slaves to
Spain ! ' As the days passed on petitions on petitions
poured in, painfully reciting the Spanish cruelties and
the Government's neglect. Can these things be proved ?
asked Pulteney. If so, ' I think our ministry have been
guilty of a scandalous breach of duty, and the most
infamous pusillanimity.' Walpole, anxious not to oflend
Spain, tried to smooth things down. Eedress by nego-
tiation was not hopeless yet, he soothingly argued ;
await the result of the representations that have already
been made, and do not, by 2:)assionate violence, rouse
tlie pride of Spain and make a peaceful solution of tlie
difficulty impossible, In spite of inflammatory speeches,
"Walpole's moderating arguments were heard with ac-
ceptance ; and parliament and people stood aside to let
diplomacy continue her efforts.

The efforts of diplomacy proved of little worth.
Spain ])aid no heed to the English expostulations ; and
AValpole, on his part, was in no way energetic in urging
Spain to heed. The temper of the nation was roused
t(_) resent what it reckoned to be mere official com-
plaisance or unworthy indifference. Parliament passed
from receiving and reading petitions to investigating
})articular cases, and eagerly listened to individual
stories of cruelties, told by the sufferers themselves
at the Bar of the House. One story more than an}-
other roused horror and anger. Early in 1731, Eobert

206 LOBD CABTEBET

Jenkins, captain of the liehecca trader, had sailed for
Jamaica ; and near Havana, on his way home Avith his
cargo of sugar, had been boarded by a Spanish guarda-
costa. To his assurances that he had nothing but sugar
on board, the Spanish officials hstened with complete
incredulity ; searched his ship for logwood or other
contraband, but found nothing. Baffled in this direc-
tion, they avenged their disappointment on the unfor-
tunate man ; strung him up, and cut him down, on liis
own vessel, three times over ; and, as a final outrage,
tore off one of liis ears, and, contemptuously flinging it
to him, bade him take that to his King, as evidence of
Spain's views on commercial questions. Then they left
him, plundered of his ship's instruments, to work his
Avay home a= Ijest he might.

Safely, though in this mutilated condition, Jenkins
reached England, and laid his ear and himself before
the King. Some personal compensation wa- made to
Jenkin- himseK ; no other action at that time was taken.
But now, in the midst of the growing excitement, this
old story was revived. Parhament turned to Jenkins ;
ordered him to present himself for examination, and
heard his story from his own lips. Allowing for rhe-
torical or theatrical exaggerations, there is no reason to
question the essential accuracy of Jenkins's narrative,
although cynical or interested official persons hinted
that the pillory was responsible for the aljsence of the
man'- ear, and although Burke afterward- called the
whole story a ' fable.' Tlie nation accepted it a- a
typical instance of the conduct of Spain, and was driven
almo-t to fury by it. -We have no need of allie?.' ex-
claimed Pulteney ; ' the story of Jenkins Avill rai-e
vijlunteers.' Parhament took up the que-tion Avith re-
newed interest. Pulteney, as opposition leader in the

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 207

Commons, reviewed the whole course of Engiand's
quarrel Avith Spain ; laid down, one after the other, the
various rights which England indisputably had in the
New World, and indignantly asked why Spain had been
allowed to interfere with every one of them. Eor years
back, he argued, our ships had been seized, our sailors
plundered, imprisoned, tortured, enslaved ; and no re-
paration had ever been procurable. He therefore
pressed the House to once more categorically assert its
privileges in resolutions which could not be mistaken.

Walpole felt considerably embarrassed. He cuuld
not call in question the various English rights which
Pulteney had laid down ; yet he was unwilling to
accept, at this particular moment, the resolutions which
vindicated them. He urged the House not yet to be
perem]itory and explicit, "which would make war un-
avoidaljle ; but still to be vaguely general, to let minis-
ters continue their negotiations, and, if possible, secure
peace. He would not listen to Pulteney 's resolutitiui:,
and himself proposed in their place an amendment
drawn up in quite general terms. Pulteney severely
reproached him for this, and bitterly contrasted Crom-
well's manner of nen'otiatiiisj; and upholdino- the honour
of the country with the action of a Prime Minister who
practically cared for nothing but the meaner parts of
office, and stood aside in passive indifference ■while the
nation was insulted ainviad and mutinous at home.
"Walptilc's tougli skin was probably little pricked by
Pulteney's angry eloquence ; his majority ^\'as still sure,
and the Patriots might storm as they pleased.

But Carteret, in the Lords, had much better success
tlian Pidtcnoy. The Earl of Cholmondeley, though he
was "Walpole's own son-in-law, advocated more decisive
action than even Pulteney had required ; and Carteret

208 LOBD CABTEBET

went further than Chohnondeley. Pulteney had demanded
a parHamentary assertion of existing Enghsli rights ;
Carteret went Ijeyond academical discussion, and de-
manded an effectual securing of them. He had his eye
on the lieart of the question. The real point in dispute
was very large and very simple. It was not whether
Spain had the right to seize Enghsh ships found trading
in Spanish ports. Spain had that right, just as England
might also confiscate Spanish sliips in corres2:ionding
circumstances. It was not whether Spain might
strictly hold down the one South Sea sliip to trade of
precise limitations. By treaty conditions, Spain fairly
had that right. The essential question was very much
^\dder. It simply was : Has Spain the right of search-
ing Enghsh ships on the high seas ? May an English
sliip, sailing from English possessions in the West Indies
home to the Old AVorld, be stopped and boarded by
Spanish guarda-costas ? The whole English demand
was contained in two words : Xo ^pjirclu Here was the
e-sontial point of the whole matter, and to tliis the
whole of Carteret's elaborate speech was directly ad-
dressed. ' " Xo search." ' he said, ' are the words that
echo from shore to shore of this island. ..." Xo
search " is a cry that runs from the sailor to the mer-
chant, from the merchant to the parhament, and from
parliament it ought to reach the throne.'

On this occasion the cry may be presumed to have
reached the throne, for the Lords yielded to Carteret'-
arguments — some even of Walpole's colleagues evident] v
approving them — and an address wa- -out up to the
King. Yet AValpole managed to get the se-ion finished
A\it]iout definitely committing himself. A few slightly
vigorous preparations were made, a- in the circum-
stances it was necessary to do something ; but the

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 209

minister's hopes still rested on negotiation and the
possibilities of diplomacy. He did, after infinite diffi-
culty, seem to succeed in a minute degree, when a
rather vague Convention was agreed to between England
and Spain, which arranged that plenipotentiaries should
meet at Madrid to attempt to bring matters to a clear
understanding. From the various treaties already in
existence, these plenipotentiaries were clearly to extract
the explicit regulations which limited trade and defined
boundaries ; they were to settle the sum which Spain
should pay to the British merchants for losses already
unjustly suffered ; and they were — to say nothing what-
ever about the Eight of Search ! Such Avas Walpole's
diplomatic success, obtained after infinite difficulty ; a
vague, conditional agreement, about this and that, in
which the one essential point of the whole question was
scrupulously avoided. When the thing was announced
to parliament and the nation, it was received with un-
bounded contempt. Chatham, speaking in the House
of Lords more than thirty years after, dwelt upon the
' universal discontent ' which this miserable Convention
excited. The whole question between Spain and
England was, indeed, one of those cases where the
instinct of the nation was far truer than that of the
minister. The nation instinctively felt that it was not a
matter for negotiation at all. Carteret saw the same
thing. Chatham's speech, delivered long after Car-
teret's death, gives — if it were needed — direct evidence
of this. ' This great man [Carteret, to whose memory
Chatham had been paying a tribute] has often observed
to me, that in all the negotiations which preceded the
Convention, our ministers never found out that there
was no ground or subject for any negotiation ; that the
Si)auiards had not a right to search our ships ; and

P

210 LOBD CABTEBET

when they attempted to regulate that right by treaty,
they were regulating a thing which did not exist.'
AValpole was, in fact, applying the small, peddling
politic? which he had known how to use so long for
his own advantage, to a case where not peddling
politics, but clear-sighted patriotic statesmanship
alone would answer.

The paltry Convention arrived in London in the
first weeks of 1739, and on the first of February parha-
ment met. The debate, technically on the Address,
was practically on the Convention. Ministers of course
spoke favourably, though feebly, of their own remark-
able piece of work ; but the opposition attack was very
keen. The ministry was bitterly referred to as one
which had neither courage to make war nor skiU to
make peace. The point of Search not being settled,
what is the use, asked Chesterfield, of these commis-
sioners with tlieir grand name of plenipotentiaries, their
salaries, and their long-winded negotiations 'f If Spani-li
search is to be endured, trade is absolutely ruined.
There will not be an English ship in which Spain will
not declare that contraband goods are carried. They
will find logwood and cocoa, and declare these are con-
traband : yet logwood and cocoa grow in Jamaica.
They will find gold pieces of eight, and declare they
are contraband. Yet are not pieces of eight the current
coin of our own colonies ? Carteret spoke severely of
the tame -ubmis-ion- of the ministry, which had almo-t
invited Spanish insult-, and declared that the settlement
of tlie cardinal point : Xo search on the high seas :
ought to have been the preUminary to negotiations of
any kind wliatever. ■ Are plenipotentiaries to determine
whether we siiall go to our own colonies safe and re-
turn -afe ? Tlie Cardinal [Fleury] would not suffer a

OPPOSITIOX TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGX AFFAIRS 211

minister to come into the tenth ante-cliamber, that
should talk of searching French ships. Ask all the
young i:iobility that have travelled : have they not
observed that the honour of the English nation hath
suffered abroad? The Court of Spain think you dare
not attack them. ShoAv them that you dare, and all is
over.' ^

Though the numerical victory -was with the Govern-
ment, tlie force of argument -was clearly with the
opposition. Newcastle and Hervey made a very poor
show against Carteret, Chesterfield, and Argyle. But
worse parliamentary treatment than this was in store
for Walpole, and out of doors the public feeling against
him began to run very high. The nation, disgusted at
the omission of the main point in dispute, was filled
witli passion by one of the conditions of the Convention,
which agreed that a large sum of money should be
paid to Spain for the ships which had been destroyed
more than twenty years before by Admiral Byng.
People asked, with scornful anger, if England was also
to pay damages for the destruction of the Spanish
Armada. ' The city is in a flame, and almost nobody
])leased,' wrote the Earl of Marchmont. ' The j^i'ints
show Sir Eobert's guard in a ridiculous enough liglit.
He is certainly distressed, and with g0(_xl reason.' '■* The
Earl of Stair wrote : ' The "whole nation is on our side,
and only Sir Eobert and his gang on the other. ... I
hope the time is not far off when his majesty Avill see
clearly that he had no other enemy in this nation so
much to be feared as Sir Eobert and his gang.'^ A
vivid little piece of evidence from the Magazine in

' Seeker's Manuscript ; in Parliameidary History, vol. X. Seeker's
^[S. is the best authority — as far as it goes — for the debates in the Lords.
" Marchmout Papers, II. 111. March 10, 1730.
5 .1. M. Graham's 5taV, II. 247,248.

r 2

212 LORD CARTERET

which Samuel J<jhnson had just begun to toil and
drudge for a livelihood, serves to illustrate the uni-
versal interest roused by the one question of the day.
On one of the February evenings of 1739 London en-
tertained itself with a grand civic masquerade : ' Where,
among many humourous and whimsical characters,
what seemed most to engage the attention of the com-
pany was a Spaniard, very richly dressed, who called
himself Knighl of the Ear ; as a bad;fe of which Order
he wore on his breast the form of a Star, Avhose points
seemed tinged with blood ; on which was painted an
Ear, and round it, written in capital letters, the word
jEXRixs ; and across his shoulders hung, instead of a
ribband, a large halter, which he held up to several
persons disguised hke Enghsh sailors, who seemed to
pay him great reverence ; and, falling on their knees
before him, with many tokens of fear and submission,
suffered him very tamely to rummage their pockets ;
which when he had done, he very insolently dismissed
them with strokes of his halter. Several of the sailors
had a bloody ear hanging down from their heads, and
on their hats these words : Ear for Ear ; while on the
hats of others was written: No Search, or No Trade ;
with the like sentences.'-'

The excitement in the nation was reflected in par-
liament. A week after its meeting, the Duke of New-
castle formally presented to the Lords a copy of the
Convention A Spanisli debate of necessity arose, and
Carteret took an exceedhigly aftive part in it. Even
Government speakers were forced to admit the weight
which attached to hi- views. On this particular
occa-ion he wori'ied tlie poor Dukf of Newcastle in a
mo'-t effectual way. The Duke presented the Conveu-

1 G(-aH(-m(ri\!j Mnr/nziitt for 17.;'.J; p. 103.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIES 218

tion Avith its separate articles and ratifications. Js tliere
not another paper ? asked Carteret ; some protest or
declaration handed in by Spain, the acceptance of which
by England is to be the condition of Spain's observance
of the Convention? How very glad, said Carteret, the
Dnke wonld be to answer such a question, and by his
answer show that while the Government had consulted
for the peace of the nation, it had also remembered its
interest and honour. But ministeriahsts sug-o-ested that

GO

such a request was out of order, and that an informal
question of that kind could not be answered. Where-
upon Carteret again blandly rose : ' My lords, when I
tlirew out my distant surmises with great simplicitj-
of heart, I did not wish to do anything formal, or lay
the Duke under any restraint ; but thought he would
cheerfully take the hint, and be glad to do so.' Thus
Newcastle was almost forced to rise, and, sadly protest-
ing against the compulsion, he declared that the papers
presented were the only ones whicli English ofBcials in
Spain had signed. Here was no answer to Carteret at
all. Yes, these are all which Eii(jli'<h ministers have
signed ; but is there not something more which Spain
alone signed and handed in? Let us have them all, and
see what ])rivate concessions have been made. Other-
wise Carteret in his plain way remarked that he would
regard the Convention and its stipulations as 'mere
crinrace.' The afflicted Duke rose again; thought he
liad answered Carteret ; and in liis helpless, blundering
fashion declared that if the English officials had signed
no other paper about the Convention, no other paper on
the subject could exist! Carteret quite meekly expressed
his regret that he had not made himself intelligible, and
repeated his question ; to Avhich, now, Xe-wcastle rising
once more, had to answei', 'Yes, there is another docu-

214 LOBD GABTEBET

ment.' ' I think it very proper,' said Carteret, who had
a strong sense of humour, ' to return my acknowledg-
ments to the noble Duke for condescending so. readily to
answer the doubt I had proposed.'

Thus Carteret had extorted from the Government the
admission that even the Convention, which parhament
and the country found so objectionable, was not all.
Beliind it, and as the sole condition on which Spain had
accepted it, stood a demand on the South Sea Company
for immediate payment of a large sum declared to be
due to Spain as tax-money on negro slaves ; and if this
Avere not immediately paid, the King of Spain would sus-
pend the Company's Assiento treaty. Here was the
Convention, with which Government expressed so much
curious satisfaction, actually dependent on the result
of a private negotiation between the King of Spain and
the South Sea Trading Company. AVe are to force the
Company to agree to Spain's demands, or all our nego-
tiating is to be a mere farce, burst out the Duke of
Arg3'le. A fresh point was evidently made for the op-
position, and the storm steadily gathered force. Petitions
against so unsatisfactory a Convention began to pour
in ; the London magistrates petitioned ; the Liverpool
merchants petitioned ; the West India merchants of
London tumultuously thronged about the Houses. The
opposition took up the cause of the merchants, and ran
the Government very close. Yet so far all the parlia-
mentarj' proceedings had been httle more than prelimi-
nary skirmishings ; the real pitched battle began in the
House of Lords on March 1, when the Convention itself
was formally taken into consideration.

Carteret led the op]Wsition, and gathered into one
impressive -\\diole and strikingly drove home an elaborate
indictment aoainst the conduct of the Government. He

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 215

exposed with ease the utter worthlessness of a Conven-
tion which obtained neither reparation for the past nor
security for the future ; severely blamed the Government
for leaving plenipotentiaries to argue vital points that
admitted no argument ; and emphatically declared the
proposed agreement destructive and dishonourable to
ihe nation; 'a mortgage of your honour, a surrender of
your liberties.' ' I do not often,' he said, ' speak in the
learned languages; but I am afraid, my lords, the pro-
phetic phrase which I once heard a most learned lord
pronounce, venit summa dies, will now be verified.'
Still, remembering the strong resolutions which the
Lords had passed last year — and it was one of Carteret's
severest reproaches to the Government that they had
done absolutely nothing to give those resolutions any
effect — he hoped that he might have a happiness to
Avhich he had lately been unaccustomed, and find him-
self and his views in the majority. Carteret spoke very
powerfully, but altogether on the merits of the question,
Avith an entire avoidance of captious or personal attack.
With the Duke of Argyle it was otherwise. ' It is said
in general that the whole debate was an extreme fine
one, conducted with great dignity and decency as a
national concern, and not personal or ministerial. The
Duke of Argyle, who spoke for two hours, was the
only one who, as I hear, took much freedom with the
ministry.' ^ Argyle was indeed very vehement. ' Let who
will approve of such ameasure,! neverwill; Iwilldiefirst.'
He was very scornful as -well as vehement ; and plainly
intimated that it was not the ministry but the Mini'iter
who was responsible for the unsatisfactory state of affairs.
Clhesterfield also was eloquent against this inglorious
Convention, this warlike peace, this perpetual patcli-

' Orlebar to Etough, March 3, 17:30. Coxe's Walpole, III. 515, 510.

21G LOBD CABTEBET

work of a statesman who dealt only with and through
the rotten hearts of sycophants and time-servers. The
very tapestry on the walls, the record of former historic
glories, was appealed to ; and fervid oratory gloomily
hoped tliat patriotic looms would strike work for the
present.

Tlie wit and eloquence, as well as the real weight of
argument, were conspicuously on the opposition side ;
yet still the Government majority, though by much
smaller numbers than usual,^ carried the day. There
was undeniable force in many of the reasons and excuses
put forward by the Government — the already heavy
debt; the danger from the Pretender; the certainty
that France would join Spain. These were real argu-
ments of their kind, and on them the Government rested
its case ; but the broad question, whether the present
was not one of those occasions on which all minor
hazards must be lightly regarded in the presence of one
overwhelming danger, was never faced by Walpole. A
hand-to-mouth polic)', if onlj a parliamentary majority
could be got to sanction it, was all that the Prime Min-
ister had to propose. Yet even from the personal point
of view, if from no higher, Walpole might have begun
to doubt whether his action had been altogether wise.
The victory which he had just gained in the Lords was
not of a very triumphant character ; the success which
he was about to gain in the Commons was little less
tlian Pyrrhic. The Commons took up the Convention a
week later than the Lords. On the first day of their
real proceedings, after two da5's spent in formal reading
of papers, more than a liundred members took their
seats before seven o'clock in the morning, and nearlj-
five hundred were present at prayers before ten. The

' 95 to 74. Tlie Priiici' of Wales voted with the opposition.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAinfi 217

Prince of Wales sat in the gallery all day long till mid-
night, and had his dinner sent to him there, rather than
lose anything of the debate. Horatio AYalpole was the
first speaker. Slovenly Horatio did his tedious best to
remove -what he considered prejudices against the Con-
vention. His general maxims on peace and war were
doubtless admirable as sonorous platitudes ; the circum-
stances of Europe might, as he arii'ued, be deplorable
enough ; only these were not the questions at issue.
' A piece of waste paper ; that is your Convention,' re-
torted the opposition. Pitt thundered against it. Are
plenipotentiaries, he asked, to discuss our ' undoubted
right by treaties, and from God, and from nature?' 'Is
this any longer a nation, or what is an English parlia-
ment, if, with more ships in your harbours than in
all the navies of Europe, with above two millions of
people in your American Colonics, you will bear to hear
of the expediency of receiving from Spain an insecure,
unsatisfactory, dishonourable Convention ? . . . This
Convention, Sir, I think from my soul is nothing but a
stipulation for national icrnominj-; an illust)ry expedient
to baffle the resentment of the nation. . . . The com-
plaints of your despairing merchants, tlie voice of
England has condemned it ; be the guilt of it upon the
head of the adviser ; God forbid that tliis Committee
should share the guilt by ajjproving it ! '

In spite of Pitt's invective, the Committee did share
the guilt ; though Walpole's majority, in a House wliich
had once been fidl of his creatures, had so far dwindled
that in a vote of nearly five hundred members he was
saved by only twenty-eight. The opposition, disappoint-
ed, and declaring that the arguments were all on one
side and the votes on the other, took the foolishly
unpractical step of seceding from the House. Carteret

218 LORD GABTEBET

in vain expressed his disapproval ; he could not per-
suade even Pulteney to oppose such feeble folly. Sir
William AVyndham, in a sUghtly tragic manner, bade a
final adieu to that parliament, very considerably to tlie
cynical satisfaction of Walpole ; and the ministerialists
were left mainly to themselves. Yet even to the
dullest of their party it could hardly now be doubtful
that war was surely coming. It was now the second
week in May ; the Convention which so small a parlia-
mentary majority had approved named May 24 as the
last day on which England would accept the payment
of the small sum Avith which Spain had reluctantly
agreed to compensate the English merchants. Xo one,
not even the Government, any longer professed to
beUeve that Spain would pay the money. Sheer neces-
sity infused a little energy into the proceedings of the
administration. To anticipate the probable action of
France, a suljsidy Avas offered to Denmark, and 6,000
Danish troops were thus gained over to the English
side. Parliament voted unusual supphes and an in-
crease of the forces. Carteret earnestly advised an
alliance AAith Frederick WilHam of Prussia, the mo-t
powerful Protestant ruler on the Continent. ' If you
have no hope of Prussia, you will not have a word to
say in Germany ; and he may be gained upon riglit and
f/ood grounds.'^ Carteret's constant and statesmanlike
interest in Prussia and Germany generally has been
signally justified in more modern times ; but it is need-
less to say that his present prudent advice wa- dis-
regarded.

Thus the days passed on. May 24 among them;
and the Government, asked if Spain had paid the money,
could only aii-wei', Xo. Once more the Lord.'^ had a

■ Seclt-r MS. itt sujira.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAIRS 219

Spanish debate, the last tliat was to be necessaiy. Car-
teret, of course, took the lead. He treated the Conven-
tion as a thing Avhich practically no longer existed, and
ridiculed the paltry ministerial action which was leaving
and allowing tlie merchant ships themselves to make
reprisals on Spanish vessels for the losses "which they
suffered. It was a case, said Carteret, in which the
royal navy of Great Britain ought to act. Yet the
Government still continued its policy of dilatory indefi-
niteness, and managed to close tlie session in June
without any direct parliamentary condemnation of its
conduct. But there was no longer any practical doubt
that Spain and England must fight. The King was
desirous for war ; AValpole's own colleagues were by
no means unanimous in approval of his peace polic}' ;
the feeling of the nation was dead against it. At last,
during the summer recess, vigorous preparations began
in earnest. The English ambassador at Madrid was
instructed to require a definite renunciation of the
h^panish claim of Eight of Search, and to leave the
country at once if the reply were not satisfactory. Here
at length was definite action ; and immediately there
was evidence of the spirit of fairness and patriotism
which always marked Carteret's conduct in opposition.
In August 1739 Carteret wrote to the Earl of ]\Iarch-
mont, who, as Lord Polwarth and ambassador at
Copenhagen, had been his old friend and fellow-worker
i]i the tangled business of restoring peace to the North
of Europe : —

'The ministers are at present, in all appearance,
l)ursuing the sense of the nation, and acting towards tiie
S])aniards as they should have acted long ago. The
nation desires no war, but yet will not be contented
with such a peace as of late we have had ; and if, in

220 LOTiD CAETEHET

vindication of our honour, and in pursuing tlie necessary
measures to obtain a good peace, war should break out,
which is most hkely, we must repel force by force, from
whatsoever quarter it comes, as well as we can ; and the
showing internal discontents, howsoever founded, at
this time, may precipitate our ruin, but can never have
any tendency to save us. These are my notions ; which
I do not give you as a volunteer ; that would be pre-
sumption ; but I lay them before you, and those friends
you may converse with, because you honour me by ask-
ing my opinion. We are all sorry that we cannot make
things better ; for God's sake, do not let us make them
worse ; and if the nation is to be undone (which, by
the way, I do not believe it will), let us act so as never
to have reason to reproach ourselves of having done
amiss, though out of zeal and good intentions, in this
critical conjuncture.'-^

England's final demands at Madrid obtained no
satisfaction, and the decisive step was at last taken.
A royal manifesto was issued at Kensington, and in
London war between England and Spain was publicly
declared by heralds on Xovember 3, 1739. Parha-
ment met long before its usual time, and the eager
activity of the Lords and Commons reflected the enthu-
siasm of the people. Carteret, after the CTOvernment in
the Lords had done its necessary oflicial speaking, rose
to express the views of the opposition. Practical
common- sense was as usual at the basis of his policy.
Xow you have actually entered upon war, he urged,
let your one consideration be the vigorous conduct of
the war. Go to the best officers ; select your generals
and admirals ; and, having done so. leave their actions
a- far as possible to themselves, and let ministers and

» Marchmrmt I'.i,,rTS, II. ISO, 130.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGX AFFAIBS 221

negotiators stand aside. Do not allow the management
of the war to be as perplexed and timorous as the con-
duct of the negotiations. Let the war really be war.
It is evident that among the opposition there was great
fear of a policy of half-measures. Chesterfield bluntly
expressed this when he said that it would not be a good
omen if those who had been against the war should
be consulted in the conduct of it. This feeling was,
however, expressed much more plainly in the House
of Commons. There Sir William Wyndham desired to
obtain an agreement that the war should not be ended
till Spain acknowledged the right of British ships to
navigate the American seas In his plain way, Walpole
declared that he knew Wyndham's speech was levelled
at him, and designed to make him unpopular. ' The
honourable gentleman and his friends have a mind to
take a httle diversion, and have singled me out as the
deer for the sport of the day. But they may find. Sir,
that I am not so easily hunted down as they imagine.
I have lived long enough in the world to know that
the safety of a minister lies in his having the ajDproba-
tion of this House. Former ministers neglected this,
and therefore they fell. I have always made it my first
study to obtain it, and therefore I hope to stand.'
Designed to make him unpopular ? sneered Pulteney. ' I
am sorry to say he has very little popularity to lose.'
Pulteney was very severe on Walpole, constantly lashino-
the ' right honourable gentleman near me ' ; for leaders
of Government and of Opposition sat next one another
on the same bench. Past disasters and inaction were
not forgotten, and mysterious hints of impeachment
Avere dropped. Walpole might well compare himself
to a baited animal ; the political chase had never been
so severe.

222 LOBB GABTEBET

The war, however, in spite of all these attacks on
AValpole and his management, seemed to be beginning
successfully. Already, in July, Admiral Vernon had
sailed for the West Indies ; and when this parliamentary
tumult was at its highest had just arrived at Porto
Bello. Two days later, on December 3, it surrendered
to his attack. An express arrived in London from
victorious Yernon with the news in March 1740. Tlie
rejoicings were almost inconceivable. Parliament sent
congratulatory addresses to the King : Walpole and
Xewcastle gave grand entertainments in honour of the
event ; the London Corporation voted the inevitable
freedom in the inevitable gold box. Yet even this
success Avas used as a blow against the Government. If
Yernon, Avith only six ships, and no land-force but some
two hundred and forty men lent him from Jamaica, had
been able to do tliis, what might he not have done but
for a jealous, niggardly G-overnment, which stinted him
of sliips and deprived him of soldiers ? But not the mo^t
captious member of opposition could complain of inac-
tivity now. All through the summer months the ports
and dockyards were busy ; great preparations were on
hand to assist Yernon in attacking Cartagena, a more im-
portant Spanisli town in the Xew Y'orld than Porto BeUo
itself In September, Anson sailed with his three shi]*-,
to make his memorable voyage round Cape Horn ; and
in Xovember a large sea and land force left England
for Yernon and the AYest Indies ; on board one of the
ships of the line being a young surgeon's inatc, not yet
twenty years old, named Toljias Smollett.

But during aU these preparations, two very imp)ort-
ant events took place on the Continent, which we«e
destined to change the whole complexion of the quarrel.
On the last day of May 1740 died Frederick AYilHam,

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIBS 223

second King of Prussia, and Europe knew nothing of
the cliaraeter of his successor ; and on October 20
died the Emperor diaries VI., and the Pragmatic
Sanction, wliich it had been the main business of his
hfe to secure, went to utter ruin, and dragged ahuost
every country of Europe to quarrel and war.

In such threatening European circumstances, the
English parliament met again in November 1740. The
Lords in opposition were especially energetic from the
very beginning of the session. Before the reading of
the King's speech was well finished, before the King him-
self had left the House, the Duke of Argyle was up,
and, anticipating the formal harangue of the official
ministerialist performer, plunged into an arraignment
of the Government. Chesterfield, not too well pleased
with Carteret's ascendency among the opposition leaders,
had recommended this action of Argyle's ; thinking
that Carteret, who always represented the more moder-
ate, responsible opposition, would either, Ijy declining
to follow Argyle, lose for himself the support of the
more advanced party, or, by following Argjde, would
seem to be surrendering the foremost place. Chester-
field's somewhat malicious speculations proved fanciful
merely. Carteret did support Argyle ; but he also
emphatically kept the lead. Argyle, himself a soldier,
confined himself chiefly to the military point of view,
and found it an easy task to denounce the conduct of
the war from the beginning to the end. One success,
not a very overpowering one for all the rejoicings it had
caused, there had been ; but no one could fairly give
the Government any credit for what Admiral Vernon
had done. Argyle beat upon the Government effectively
enough on this military side. Carteret also was severe
on this matter, but he mainly looked at the subject in

221 LOBD GABTEBET

its strict political light. His attack upon the adminis-
tration, and especially upon Walpole, was very strong.
• X minister who has for almost twenty years been de-
monstrating to the world that he has neither "wisdom
nor conduct. He may liave a little low cunning, such
as those have that buy cattle in Smithfield market, or
such as a French valet makes use of for managing an
indulgent master ; but the whole tenour of his con-
duct lias shown that he has no true wisdom. This
our allies know and bemoan ; this our enemies know
and rejoice in.'

The attack thus begun was week after week energetic-
ally followed up. The state of the army, the instruc-
tions to Vernon in the Caribbean Sea, to Haddock in the
^Mediterranean, offered countless opportunities for hvely
debate. Such gueriUa skirmishing was of the liveliest,
but could not be decisive or thoroughly satisfactory to
either side. The opposition therefore resolved to put
out all their strength in one grand effort, and to go to
the root of all their complainings — patriotic, some of
them, factious undoubtedly, others — by definitely de-
manding the resignation of Walpole. On the same day,
February 13, 17-41, this formal attack was made in both
Houses of Parliament. The House of Lords was crowded
wjien Carteret rose to dehver his indictment against the
Prime Minister in a long, elaborate speech, worthy of
his unrivalled poHtical knowledge. The whole field of
foreign and dome-tic politic- for a period of nearly
twenty years lay open before him, from the bickeriniis
Ijetween the Emperor Charles and Ehzabeth Farnese,
do"\vn to the Spanish Convention and the unsatisfactory
management of tlie war. The endless treatying and
counter-treatying. the imbecile Congresses, the shifting
alhaucc-, the want of anything like a clear and con-

opposition: to WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIBS 225

sistent line of action on the part of the Government,
offered material "which a less able man than Carteret
might have turned to good account. The main note
of his speech was the one point which is the simple
and always consistent explanation of Carteret's chief
views on European politics. All through Carteret's
hfetime the French had been attempting to aggrandise
themselves in Europe at the expense of Germany.
Sometimes they had succeeded, as when Fleury had
managed to get hold of Lorraine ; sometimes they failed,
as was once to be ver}' conspicuously the case while
Carteret himself was at the head of affairs in England.
But always and in all circumstances Carteret's policy was
decided and the same : the Fi'ench must be kept out of
Germany. That Walpole's line of action had not clearly
kept this policy in view, but that a shilly-shally proce-
dure had made France and Austria our friends and ene-
mies alternately, was Carteret's chief point of reproacli.
As usual, Carteret did not t]-eat the question from
the personal point of view. ' I am not for appearing in
anything peevish or personal,' he expressly said ; and,
when himself in power, he proved the truth of his asser-
tion by taking the lead in opposing unfair treatment of
the fallen minister. But he did not shrink from the
pohtical application of his indictment. ' If one physician
cannot cure a fever, take another.' ' If people fall
asleep on their post, it is mild to say, Pray remove them.'
Carteret distinctly declared that if Walpole could be
considered competent to extricate the nation from the
confusion that existed at home and abroad, he would
be willing to let him do it. That could not be, and the
inevitable conclusion followed : that the King be advised
to renio\'e Sir Eolicrt AValpole from his presence and
counsels for ever.

(J

226 LOBD CABIERET

For eleven hours the Lords debated this exciting
question, and were very lavish of eager rhetoric.
Walpole was very severely handled. 'Except those
who depend on him, there are not fifty subjects in
the kingdom but most ardently wish to have him re-
moved,' said one peer. ' A saucy master,' who '• hath
treated with his usual buffoonery what the nation hath
set its heart on,' said another. Argyle was very
bitter, and pressed David into the ranks of opposition.
' Take away the wicked from before the King.' con-
cluded the too sanguine Duke, ' and his throne shall be
estabhshed in righteousness.' But soon after midnight
the Lords decided that this desirable establishment
might very well wait. Carteret had been very elo-
quent ; but the time was not yet come. ' Aly Lord
Carteret did speak two hours as well as any man in
the world could speak, but all in vain,' wrote the
Duchess of ]\Iarlborough, now very old, but full of
patriotism. ' One of the finest discourses I ever saw
in any language,' the Earl of Stair said of Carteret's
speech, though its eloquence had been unavailing. Xo
one, certainly not Carteret himself, expected a numerical
parliamentary victory for the opposition. Some lively
writers even asserted that Carteret had taken up the
question unwillingly and was fuU of vexation and
chagrin at the part he played in it. One of young
Horace Vi'alpule's correspondents ventured to become
particular over thi- view. ' Two minutes after he had
made the motion he rubbed his periwig off, and has
not cea-ed biting his nails and scratching his head ever
since.' ^ Lively writuig of tliis kind is -o very amusing,
and it is so agreeable to believe what one would hke to
believe. If Carteret did rub his periwig off, one has an

' II. .S. Conway to Horace Walpole ; Feb. 16, 1741.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAIRS 2-21

exact, though a minutely insignificant, biograpliical fact.
As far as other matters are concerned, tlie lively writer
may be disregarded.

"Walpole had thus been successful in the one House,
and he might reckon himself fortunate also in the other.
In the Commons, many members had taken their seats
by six o'clock in the morning ; and the debate, which
began before noon, lasted till between three and four
o'clock in the following day. Yet the result was a
foregone conclusion. It was still Walpole's OAvn parlia-
ment, and he ran no real risk. He himself treated the
affair in a very confident style, and, in his outspoken
Avay, dechned to listen to any arguments which pro-
fessed to be based upon patriotism. The whole thing,
he declared, was a mere attempt to get into office, and
the less said of patriotism the better, ' A patriot. Sir !
why, patriots spring up like mushrooms ! I could raise
fifty of them within the four and twenty hours. I have
raised many of them in one night. It is but refusing to
gratify an unreasonable or an insolent demand, and up
starts a patriot.' The eloquence of Pulteney and other
opposition leaders was, from the division-list point of
view, wasted ; many members declined to vote at all ;
and even so important a member of opposition as Ches-
terfield conceived — though the result showed that he
was wrong — that AValpole had actually been strength-
ened by his seeming success, and that the opposition
had been broken to pieces. Walpole's levee next
morning was indeed the largest he had ever been
known to hold, and he himself seems to have been
partly thrown off his guard ; but essentially his triumph
was superficial only-^

' This once famous debate was the occasion of a \e\-\ celebrated political
caricature called The Mnthn, The scene is Whitehall and the Treasury

(J 2

228 LORD CABTEBET

Walpole was safe for the time being ; but already
events were in progress Avhich would add strength to
the general outcry against him. The European crash
which had been expected to follow the Emperor Charles's
death had come without delay. Maria Theresa had
instantly been proclaimed successor to her father's
Austrian dominions ; but in less than two months after
the Emperor's death, Frederick of Prussia had invaded
Silesia. He declared his willingness to uphold the

Buildings, towards which a coach is Vjeing driTen at full speed. Arp-yle is

coachman : —

' Who be dat de box do sit on ?
'Tis John, the hero of Xorth Briton,
Who, out of place, does placemen spit on.'

Chesterfield is postilion ; Bubb Dodinp'ton is a cur between his le^zs. The
passeDfrer is Carteret : —

' But piay who in de coache sit-a ?
Tls hunest Johnny Carteritta,
Who want in place again to get-a.'

The furious pace Is threatening to overturn the coach, and Carteret is
crying : ' Let me get out ! ' Lean Lord Lyttelton is riding behind on a
lean hacli : —

' Who's dat who ride astride de poney ,
So long, so lank, so lean and boney :-■
Oh ! he be the great orator, Little- Tciuer !

Smallbrook, Bishop of Lichfield, bows humbly as they pass :

' What parson's he dat bow so civU r
Oh ! dat's de bishop who split de devil,
And made a devU and a half, and half a devil ! '

In the foreground, on foot, is Pulteney, leading figures by strings from
their noses, and wheeling a barrow full of opposition writino-i, the Crafts-
man, Covimon Sense, etc. He is exclaiming : ' Zounds, they are over ! '

' Close by stands BiUy, of all Bob's foes
The wittiest far in ver^e and prose ;
How he leads de puppies by de nose I '

< Tell me, dear,' writes Horace Walpole from Italy to his friend Conwar,
' now, who made the desijpx, and who took the likenesses ; they are admir-
able ; the lines are as good as one sees on such occasions.' The Cartoon is
reproduced in T. Wright's Curkntv-ri- Hiaforij of the C;r-ori)r:s, p. 128. Many
editions of it were published, slightly varying in details.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFEAIPS i29

Pragmatic Sanction, and in tlie contest for tlie Empire
to vote for Maria's husband, the Grand Duke Francis ;
but the condition he required was the cession of Silesia,
and Maria would not hear of such a thing. Frederick
therefore advanced, first through deluges of rain, then
in hard frost ; and, finding practically no opposition,
was easily making himself master of Silesia. The ex-
citement caused by this in England was very great.
The people, who knew nothing of German histor}',
passionately took up Maria's cause. In their eyes, she
was an interesting and much injured young Princess ;
and Frederick was a perfidious robber. George also,
though for ditTerent reasons, was eager on the same
side. He had given his word to Charles, and had
signed his Pragmatic Sanction ; and George, like his
father, Avas always a man of strict Iionestj- to his pro-
mise. Above all, he had his own Hanover to think of;
the slightest disturbance in Gernmny always threw him
into a tremor of anxiety. English statesmen, too, and
politicians were generally for Maria, though many of
tliem would have been puzzled to say exactly why.
]3ut Carteret knew his reasons very well. It was not
in opposition to Frederick that Carteret supported the
cause of Austria. He was always anxious to induce
]\laria to come to terms with Frederick, and in little
more than a year after this date it was one of the
triumplis of his own ministr}' that he successfully ac-
complished this. But France was sure to interfere in
this internal German question. It was known that
France was about to break the Pragmatic Sanction ;
known, too, that she would not have Maria's husband
as Emperor. Support of Maria Theresa was therefore
opposition to the designs of France in Germany ; and
Carteret's views could not for a moment be doubtful.

230 LORD CABTEBET

On April 19, 1741, the King asked parliament
to assist him in supporting Maria Theresa, and next day
the question was debated. Argyle was cold. Why was
England to stand alone in support of the Pragmatic
Sanction ? Chesterfield opposed, with oblique hints at
the King's partiality for his German dominions. But
Carteret approved. ' If this be not done,' he said, 'the
Queen of Hungary will throw herself into the arms of

France This is a case of nobody's seeking ; it

arises from the Emperor's death. The King should
hazard all upon it, and we should stand by him. . . .
I do not look for popularity ; but am now on the
popular side of the question. ... If the Austrian
dominions are parcelled, France gets enough without
getting an acre of land. AVe say to France, if you
will keep your treaty, you cannot complain of us ;
if you will not, we are safer with open doings.' ^
' The Austrian thunder of my Lord Carteret,' Pitt
some months later in a letter to Chesterfield called
this speech.^ Xeither Pitt nor Carteret knew at the
time that the thunder of artillery had already been
speaking in a far more emphatic manner than the
thunder of eloquence ever coidd. Ten davs before this
debate there had been fouglit the first pitched battle in
that long war which, with ^■arious rests and breathing-
places, really lasted from 1740 to 17G2. In drifting,
snowy weather, and confused circumstances on both
sides, the Austrians and Prussians had fallen upon each
other ; and Frederick's victory had made the battle of
Mollwitz the signal for a general European war. But
news from the Continent still travelled slowlv, and it
was not until April 25 that London heard of the first

' Secki t's Parliamentary MS. ut supra.

^ C'yn-c'jiondetir-e of the Earl of Chatham, I. 1.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE— FOREIGN AFFAIRS 231

real stroke in the great struggle ; on which very day,
curiously enough, Parliament voted to Maria Theresa
a subsidy of three hundred thousand pounds.

But to subsidise the Queen of Hungary was by no
means enough for George, Parliament had readilj''
promised him the support he desired, and he hoped,
though he was terribly disappointed, to strike decisively
into the quarrel at once. He hurried over in May
1741 to Hanover, attended by Secretary Harrington,
and was as eager as he always was to get to war. He
had a respectable army ; 6,000 Danes, 6,000 Hessians,
Avere ready for him on subsidy, and his own Hanoverian
forces made the total more than 30,000 men. Yet to
his disgust George found he could do nothing. As a
first difficulty, it proved impossible to move the Dutch.
It took more than two years to persuade these exceed-
ingly heavy allies to stir. But even more perplexing
than this was the case of Hanover. In April 1741
Prederick had established a camp of 36,000 men at
Gottin, near Magdeburg, ready at once to fall upon
Hanover if quarrel should arise between George and
himself So the King of England could not fight be-
cause he happened to be also Elector of Hanover. He
was effectively checkmated; and it was clear that so
long as Frederick remained Maria's active enemy, George
would simply be unable to act at all. It became there-
fore his most pressing necessity to remove Frederick
from the scene of action. Diplomacy was set to work.
The English ambassador at Vienna, Sir Thomas Eobinson,
a heavy, dull man, still vaguely remembered for the
terrible parliamentary worryings which later on he
suffered from Pitt and Pox, urged and even implored
Maria to come to terms with her successful enemy.
Ilyndford, the ambassador at Berlin, sought Frederick

232 LOBD CARTERET

himself in his camp near MoUwitz, and offered English
mediation to restore Germanic peace. But the two
ambassadors had two very determined young sovereigns
to deal with, and the efforts of diplomacy seemed hope-
lessly vain. Maria would not be moved ; and Frederick,
far from listening to the arguments of Hyndford, made
in June a treaty Avith the French. The hand of France
interfering in Germany was first visible when, after this
treaty, the Elector of Bavaria appeared as a candidate
for the Empire. This was a second blow to ]\Iaria ; and
in such circumstances Eobinson did succeed in per-
suading her to some faint compliance. In August he
hastened to Frederick, who was now at Strehlen, and
once more put before liiim the small concessions which
Maria was willing to make. It was quite useless.
Frederick, now sure of France, would have his Silesian
demands completely satisfied, and would not accept
anything less. He continued his own conquests in
Silesia ; and at the same time two French armies,
e;irh of 40,000 men, entered Germany ; the one orossin'j-
the Uj)per Pthine, to join tlie Elector of Bavaria and
march towards Vienna ; the other over the Lower
Pthine, to make for Hanover.

AVhat could George do, either for himself or for
Maria? Clearly nothing but negotiate himself out of
liis difficulties, and continue to urge Maria to do the
same. Very contrary to his own wishes, but seeing
there was no help for it, he agreed in September to
the neutrality of Hanover ; and though for a time his
importunate attempts to mediate between Austria and
Prussia were an utter failure, in that same month
success appeared to be at la>t approaching. Maria
had peisonally appealed to Hungary, and had roused
passionate loyalty there. At the same time Frederii;k.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIBS 233

though the French were his allies, was really jealous of
their presence in Germany. England seized these two
openings as an opportunity for one more diplomatic
efibrt. By working on Frederick s jealousy of France,
and by pressing upon Maria her need of a short time
of respite, the two English ambassadors successfully
brought the rivals to an agreement. Thus early in
October was made the secret treaty of Kleinschnellen-
dorf, Maria agreeing to cede to Frederick those parts
of Silesia which he already held, and Frederick accept-
ing peace, though mock hostilities were for a short time
to be continued, to blind and satisfy the French.

Wliile these negotiations Avere employing George
and Harrington at Hanover, a general election had
taken place in England. The feeling against Walpole
in the country was b}' this time very strong. "Walpole
had been for twenty years uninterruptedly in power ;
every mistake, every failure that had marked the years
from 1721 to 1741, was, justl}- or unjustly, assigned to
him. In ecclesiastical affairs he had offended both
Churchmen and Dissenters. In parliamentar}' manage-
ment, his cynical frankness in corruption had often been
a little too much for a not very puritanical period.
His contemptuous neglect of literature had enrolled all
the wits and men of letters against him at a time wlien
political pamphlets and news-letters and satires were
read all ovei' the kingdom. tSo early as 1727 Swift
wrote of Walpole that ' he lias none but beasts and
blockheads for his penmen.' ^ But his one unpardon-
aljle offence was his conduct in the Spanish war. He
had not declared war till resignation of his own power
was his only alternative ; and when, after Vernon's one
success at Porto Bello, the military managen:ent sank

' Swift to Ur. Sheridan; May 13, ]r27. Swift's Jl'orks, XVII. 107.

234 LORD CARTEBET

into a dreary round of inaction, failure, and confused
ineffectiveness — the natural result of official incapacity
and of the usual chaotic mismanagement of the English
fighting departments — the angry irritation of the people
instinctively blamed the minister who was known to
have no real heart in the business which he nominally
directed. The fleet in the Mediterranean did abso-
lutely nothing. Vernon's expedition against Cartagena,
from which so much had been expected, had gone to
utter ruin and almost disgrace. And the country,
which had so eagerly adopted the cause of Maria
Theresa, felt itself further humihated by the Hanover
neutrality and by the rather unheroic way in which
George's first continental attempt had terminated.
From a general election held in such circumstances,
Walpole could not expect any very great success, and he
seems at this time, very contrary to his usual habit, to
have been full of personal anxieties. His son Horace,
writing in October 1741, says that he who 'was asleep
as soon as his head touclicd the pillow, for I have
frequently known him snore ere they had drawn his
curtains, now never sleeps above an hour without
waking ; and he who at dinner always forgot he wa=r
minister, and was more gay and- thoughtless than all his
company, now sits without speaking, and with lii= eyes
fixed for an hour together. .Judge if this is the .'~^ir
Eobert you knew.' ^

In 0' tober the King and Harrington returned from
Hanover, and early in December the newly elected
parliament met. From the very first it wa- clear that
Walpole was surely falhng. Veiy ^e\"ere thing- were
said against liis Government. 'I -ee manv motives for
ceri-ure, none for approbation, all for distrust,' said

' II. 'SValpole to Mann; Cirt. 10, 1741.

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE—FOBEIGN AFFAIRS 235

Chesterfield. Instead of an address of thanks, Halifax
suggested an address of condolence as more suitable
to the occasion. 'A thing is said in the speech,' said
Carteret, ' which I am sure the King believes, . . . and
yet I would not confirm him in it. He says he has
done all he could for the House of Austria. We shall
be able to make him change his opinion.' Yet even in
the gloomy condition of things Carteret saw what he
called some glimmerings of hope ; hope that the King of
Prussia might take alarm at the progress of the French ;
hope from the King of Sardinia ; hope even from the
exceedingly laggard Dutch. Every one of these hopes
was in time realised. But Carteret, now as alwaj's,
had strong objections to mere pleasing, flattering
words which did not really correspond to the facts of
tlie case. ' It is fact we must see,' he declared, and he
felt not the slightest disposition to compliment the
Government on its military or diplomatic situation.
"What Avas the use of words ? ' There were strong
words in the last address about the Queen of Hungary ;
but thej' did her no good, and she Avill not mind these
now.' ^

In the Commons the attack on Walpole was violent
and very personal. Inste;ul of returning thanks for the
conduct of the S])anish war, the opposition indignantly
compelled the minister to omit from the address the
sli<2;htest reference to that imbrocrlio of mismanagement
and disaster. Pulteney made what Horace Walpole is
compelled to admit was a fine speech ; but it was also
an exceedingl}' keen personal attack. Pulteney even
ventured to accuse Walpole not merel)' of errors or
indifference, but actually of treachery and collusion
Avith the enemy. Walpole, who had thoroughly re-

' Sec-kfi-'s Parliamentary ^IS. ut siipiri.

230 LORD CABTEBET

covered his health and spirits, s]joke for an hour in reply
and self-defence. Yet in spite of all the heat and
rhetoric there was no division. Dividing is not the
Avay to multiply, said Pulteney vs^ith a mild witticism.
But one decision was taken. Walpole challenged Pul-
teney, who had loaded him Avith abuse, to name a day
for investigating the charges brought against him, and
declared that he himself would second the proposal.
Pulteney at once accepted, and the great debate was
fixed for January 21, 1742.

But before this day could arrive there were repeated
signs that "Walpole's fall was close at hand. The meet-
ing of the new parliament was, as usual, followed by
the inevitable debatings over many election petitions ;
debates which were alwaj-s decided as simple questions
of party politics, without any regard to the merits of
each case. In one of these divisions "Walpole could
only muster a majority of seven. In another, a few
days later, he lost even this scanty support, and the
opposition triumphed by four. Yet ' Sir Piobert is in
great spirits and still sanguine,' wrote his son on tliis
very day. Before Christmas Day Walpole was again
defeated over the once famous Westminster election
petition. ' AVe sat till half an hour after four,' Horace
wrote to his friend Mann on Cliristmas Eve, • the
longest day that ever was knoAAm,' savs he in those
primitive parliamentary times. ' Sir Eobert was as
well as ever, and spfjke with as much spirit as ever at
four o'clock. . As he came out, Wliitehead, the

author of Manners, and agent, with one Carey, a sur-
geon, for the opposition, said, " Damn him, ho^v well he
looks I " ' That was a curious old parliamentarv scene ;
the ' honouraljle gentleman in the blue ribband.' in the
dark small liours of a I)c(-ember morning, defeated yet
undaunted, comiiiL'' out of tlie House wlierc he had bopu

OPPOSITION TO WALPOLE -FOREIGN AFFAIUS 2^7

master for twenty years ; and beside him an enraged
opposition, relieving its feelings in the dialect of tlie
day. These last few weeks of Walpole's pohtical power
are the only period in his whole career during which
it is possible to feel any personal enthusiasm for him.
There is something decidedly attractive in the big,
brave way in which he held up against the shoal of his
enemies. ' He is a brave fellow ; he has more spirit
than any man I ever knew,' once said brave httle
George of his useful Prime Minister.

The day for Pidteney's debate came, and the Com-
mons showed the fullest House that had been known
for years. Sick and dying men, in flannel, on crutclies,
were brought down to vote. Walpole's son Eubert,
Lord Walpole, whose house adjoined the House (jf
Commons, had taken there two or tliree members who
were too ill to go through by "Westminster Hall, and
meant to pass them in by his own door. The opposi-
tion stopped the key-hole with sand. Five hundred
and three members voted, and Pulteney was defeated
by a majority of three. Though such a paltry Govern-
ment victory was really a defeat, Walpole would not
resign, but held on, seemingly in the best of spirits,
against the advice of his family and private friends.
But parliamentary rebuffs continued, and Walpole at
last agreed that one more election question should be
made the conclusive test. On the first stage of this
petition Walpole was defeated by one vote. In the
next division, the result was more decisively against
liim ; and on February 13 he declared, as he left the
House, that he would never again sit in it. Next day
the King adjourned parliament for a fortnight, and
before the Houses met again Walpole had resigned all
his employments and Iiad been raised to the pceraae as
Earl of Orford.

238 LORD CABTEBET

CHAPTEE VII.

POWER.

1742-1744

Even before thefaUof Walpole, one member of his own
Government had secretly attempted to come to terms
with the opposition. Personal pohtical intrigue was
the one science of which the Duke of Xewcastle %vas
an easy master. ' His name is perfidy,' said AValpole
once. As early as the Porteous affair, Newcastle had
been sniffing about Carteret in an uneasy sort of way,
with a dim, dull foreboding that Carteret would pro-
baljly soon rise very high indeed ; and when the re-
moval of Walpole became a question of days or hours
only, Newcastle privately sought to negotiate himself
into security with the leading men of the new arrange-
ment. He wrote to Pulteney that he had a royal
message for him, and asked Pulteney to meet him in
strict secrecy. But Pulteney was far too prudent to
enter into underhand communications with a man like
Xewcastle. He refused to receive any message by
stealth and in the dark ; Newcastle might come, if he
liked, to Pulteney's own hou-e, by daylight, and in
sight of all his servants. At this point Walpole inter-
vened, anxious to do, with the knowledge of his col-
leagues, what Newcastle had unsuccessfully attempted
by private intrigue. Walpole was with very good

POWER 2y'J

reason alarmed for liis own personal safety. Lenity in
politics had not yet become a favourite notion ; Walpole
liimself liad been a parliamentary prisoner in the Tower.
Political excitement was now running higher than at
any time since the bursting of the South Sea Bubble,
and the cry for an impeachment was very loud and
persistent. ' Downing Street or the Tower,' was Horace
Walpole's lively way of stating the probabilities of the
case in the last days of his father's struggle in parha-
ment. In such circumstances, Walpole had the best
possible reason for attempting to bargain with his
opponents before he positively laid down his power.
Ten days before he resigned, Walpole began his
arrangements, and during the fortnight's adjournment
he busily continued them. The King knew that the
successful opposition was not a united and harmonious
party ; and he himself, in language suggested by Wal-
pole, said to Pulteney : ' As soon as I found you were
at variance among yourselves, I saw that I had two
tiliops to deal with, and I rather chose to come to you,
because I knew that your aim was only directed against
my minister, but I did not know but the Duke of Argyle
wanted to be King himself ^ The King personally dis-
liked Pulteney ; but Walpole succeeded in overcoming
that, and so gained his first point. A royal message
was entrusted to Newcastle and Lord Chancellor Hard-
wicke, and Pulteney agreed pubhcly to receive it ; only
stipulating that, as Hardwicke was to be with New-
c'astle, he himself should be accompanied by Carteret.
The four accordingly met at Pulteney 's house. Yet at
first the negotiation was quite unsuccessful. The royal
oifer proposed that Pulteney should succeed Walpole

' Report of a conversation with Pulteney; Add. MSS. 18,915; fol.

28-2(1.

240 LOBD CAIiTERET

'c\< Prime Minister. This in itself was not likely to be
accepted ; for Pulteney had frequently declared that he
would never again take office. And even this proposal
was clogged witli a condition. The offer was only made
on the understanding that there should be no prosecu-
tion of Walpole. To this Pulteney at once refused to
agree. He was not, he said, bloodthirsty, but it was
beyond his power to bind his party to any such ar-
rangement. On such terms nothing could be done.
Xewcastle found himself thirsty, and asked for wine.
It Avas evening, and champagne was brought in ; ^ Xew-
castle drank to their happier meeting. Pulteney smi-
lingly said that he would drink to Xewcastle in the
Av ords of Shake-peare's Brutus : —

If we do meet again, wliy, we shall smile ;
If not, why then, this meeting was well made.

Walpole thus failed to secure Pulteney for Premier ;
and it seems probable, though tlie accounts are confused
and contradictory, that Pulteney desired Carteret to
take the post. It is probable too that Carteret, Avhile
perfectly wiUing to -erve under Pulteney, considered
his own claims the highest after Pulteney's refusal. It
is not clear whether Walpole objected to this. He need
not have feared Carteret personally ; Carteret was a rare
instance of an eighteenth-century statesman absolutely
free from A'indictivene-s. In any case, the offer was
not made. The King, Avhen Pulteney declined the office
for hinj-elf. desired that his old fiiend Sir Spencer
Compton, now Lord Wilmington, might be allowed to
slide into it. To put AA'ilmington at the head of a
Cabinet Avhich included Carteret and Pulteney was an
arrangement Avhich might have been c[uoted as a pre-

' Cliaotic Coxe f-ays it was forenoon and niirus I

POWER 241

cedent for making Pitt and Fox subordinates of Sir
Thomas Robinson. Pulteney, however, agreed ; saying
to Carteret, who probably did not conceal his dissatis-
faction : ' You must be Secretary of State, as the fittest
person to direct foreign affairs.' For himself Pulteney
only required a peerage and a seat in the Cabinet with-
out the seals of any department. On these conditions
an arrangement was accomplished. Some of AValpole's
old colleagues, Xewcastle, Pelham, Lord Hardwicke, con-
tinued to hold their offices ; some, like Hervey, were dis-
missed ; some, Hke Wilmington and Harrington, changed
their places. The other half of the Government repre-
sented the victorious opposition. Sandys, a rather in-
significant man, whose ability to spell was considered an
open question, became Chancellor of the Exchequer ;
Carteret's friend Winchelsea took the Admiralty ; Argyle,
with a good deal of angry discontent, the War Office.
Pulteney became an unattached member of the Cabinet.
Carteret himself received the seals which Harrington
resigned, and officially was designated Secretary of State
for the Northern department ; but everj^ one understood
that Wilmington was a mere cypher, and that Carteret
was really the Prime Minister. The Government was
always spoken of as his.

But before the new arrangements had reached even
this elementary settlement, internal difficulties threat-
ened a troubled career to the new administration. The
opposition which overthrew Walpole had itself been a
conglomeration of political parties. Everj' one of these
thought itself entitled to share the spoils, and every one
of them was discontented when its claims were over-
looked. Carteret and Pulteney were the leaders of the
discontented Whigs or Patriots ; j-et some of this party,
as Chesterfield, were dissatisfied because they had not

E

242 LOBD CABTEBET

been called to council or offered places. They were
offended at the evident superiority of Carteret. The
Tories were offended when it became clear that they
themselves were to have a very trifling share of in-
fluence, and that the Jacobites were to have absolutely
none. The Whigs of the Prince of AVales's party were
discontented ; some, with the places assigned to them ;
others, like Pitt, Lyttelton, and the Grenvilles, because
they had no places at all. These parties had all
"wilUngly enough imited to remove Walpole from
power ; but as soon as the one object on which they
were agreed was attained, they flew asunder again into
discordant groups. The rumour that the necessary
negotiations had been entrusted to Carteret and Pulteney
threAV them all into violent agitation. The news that
the chief posts in the Government had already been dis-
posed of filled them with impotent passion. They de-
clared that they had been betrayed ; and on February 22,
the very day of AValpole's resignation, and the day
before Carteret received the seals, they assembled in
full force to give vent to their indignation. At the
Fountain, a tavern in the Strand much used for poh-
tical purposes, between two and three hundred mem-
bers of both Houses met, and after dinner relieved
themselves of much angry eloquence. They invited
Carteret and Pulteney to be present. Carteret would
not go, saying that he never dined at a tavern ; but
Pulteney went, only to hear himself abused. Argyle
spoke with his usual passion. Using the cant phrase
of the day, he declared that the Government should be
formed upon a Broad Bottom, and that room must be
made for all of them by dismissing every member of
AValpole's administration. One enthusiast, who at least
ought to ha^■e been a very j'oung man, exjire-sed the

POWER 2i3

same thing Avith a pleasantly classical flavour, and drank
to cleansing the Augean stable of the dung and grooms.
Argyle sneered at the opposition leaders ^vho had al-
ready accepted office ; angrily said of Pulteney — who
was exceedingly rich — that a grain of honesty was worth
a cartload of gold ; and warmly demanded the prosecu-
tion of Walpole. To all this abuse Pulteney rejjlied
Avith spirit, but with moderation ; and the meeting
broke uj) in an excited and angry condition.

If Walpole wished, as very probably he had intended,
to stir up dissensions in the ranks of his opponents,
he had already very fairly succeeded. Already there
seemed a dangerous possibility that the heterogeneous
forces of opposition would attempt to annihilate one
another. To secure something like an harmonious under-
standing, a meeting of the chief leaders was held under
the soothing mediatorship of the Prince of Wales. Pul-
teney quietly declared that the real power of the Go-
vernment was in the hands of its new members, and that
entirely to get rid of the friends of Walpole was, at that
crisis, simply impossible. Even passionate Argyle seemed
to see the truth and force of this. When the Prince
declared his own satisfaction with the arrangements
which Carteret and Pulteney had made, Argyle, for
all his bitterness, consented to join the Government ;
demanding only that for the Tory Sir John CV)tton a
place also should be found. An open rupture thus
seemed to have been avoided, and when parliament ix'-
sumed after its fortnight's adjournment, the late opposi-
tion appeared as one united party. But this union was on
the surface onlj*. When the final official arrangements
^\-ere announced, it was found that after all there was no
appointment for Cotton. The King had declared that
he was determined to stand by those who had set his

R '2

244 LOBD CABTEBET

family on the throne, and positively declined to accept
the Tory. This was too much for Argyle. He had
already made no secret of his dissatisfaction with the
Government of which he was himself a member. Glover,
the merchant-poet, known as ' Leonidas ' Glover, from
the name of a so-called epic which he had produced at
the age of five-and-twenty, had found Argyle one day
pacing up and down his room and thundering against
Carteret as his enemy. ^ Argyle now resigned, and
went into bitter opposition. He even wrote to Orford,
and offered to assist him in demolishing their common
enemy, the new ministry.^^ Pulteney long afterwards
told Lord Shelburne that it was impossible to under-
stand or describe the confusion that prevailed at that
political crisis ; that he himself lost his head, and was
obliged to go out of town for three or four days to keep
his senses.^ He returned to London only to hear that
there was already a split in the new Government.

The personal details of the formation of a Govern-
ment, the rivalries and jealousies, the fightings for stars
and ribbands and places, had never much interest for
Carteret. Unfortunately, perhaps, for his own political
advantage, he was very contemptuous of all that, and
had his mind set on other things. 'Li the upper depart-
ments of Government he had not his equal,' Pitt said of
Carteret long after Carteret's death. The destinies of
Europe, the motions of armies, the policy of statesmen,
were Carteret's department ; he very willingly let the
provincialisms of politics alone. He had come into
power at a very anxious time. The Treaty of Klein-
schnellendorf, by which Maria had freed her:^elf from

• Gl'ivHr's M/'niniis of n (Jihhratcd LUcrnrij and l'<ilHi'al. Character.

'' Add. :\JSS. 9,224 :'fol. 2.

^ Shelburne's ^l«<'<i/'-';/)''/^^/(^ ; Fitzmaurice's •S/ic^MOio, I. 40.

POWEB -2^5

the active opposition of Prussia, liad proved a very
temporary affair. It had removed Frederick from the
scene, but it left the French free to act as they pleased.
While the one French army had, by threatening Han-
over, checkmated George and sent him home neutral,
the other had pushed on down the Danube, and joined
the Elector of Bavaria, who hoped soon to be Emperor.
They advanced as far as Linz ; it seemed their destina-
tion was Vienna itself. Vienna was in great alarm, but
was relieved Avhen, at Linz, its enemies altered their line
of march, and turned off" direct north to Bohemia. Leav-
ing only a small number of men in the Linz regions to
hold their conquests on the Danube, French, Bavarians,
and Saxons all made for the North, to meet again at
Prag. And they took Prag ; but there for the time
their successes ended. Maria's husband, the Grand
Duke Francis, also marched for Bohemia ; and the
Austrian general Khevenhtdler moved from Vienna to
look after the French forces that had been left behind
on the Danube. He recovered Linz itself, retaking it
on January 24, 1742, the very day on which the Elector
of Bavaria became Emperor Charles VII. But the new
Emperor had already appealed for help to Frederick, and
Frederick was ready, for he had only granted the Treaty
of Kleinschnellendorf on the condition of absolute
secrecy, and Austria had paid very temporary regard
to this stipulation. Frederick therefore rejoined his
allies, and decided, in union with the French and Saxons,
to seize Moravia, and if possible sweep down upon
Vienna itself. The plan was no doubt admirable ; yet
the Moravian expedition turned out a complete failure.
The French and Saxons gave Frederick endless trouble ;
the Saxons were very backward and unwilling ; the
French actually left him. Still he pressed on ; but in

24G LOBD CARTERET

sucli circumstances could not take Brllnn, the strong-
hold of ]\Ioravia, and soon found himself forced to an
i;nwilling retreat.

It was just when Austrian affairs were in this greatly
improved condition, when the French had turned aside
from Vienna, when KhevenhuUer was doing well on the
Danube, when Pandours Avere entering the Emperor's
own Bavaria, when the Saxons and the French were
deserting Frederick, and when Frederick himself was
about to retreat from Moravia, that the change in the
English Government brought Carteret into power. He
Avas foreign minister ; practically he was also Prime
]\Iiuister. He was by no means anxious for war, but he
kneAv his own mind, and was desirous to start his policy
AA'ith a clear understanding. In March 1742 he had an
interview with the French ambassador, and while he
frankly told him that England would not consent to the
overthrow of the House of Austria, he desired that the
French Government sliould also plainly declare its in-
tentions, that, if possible, the two countries might work
together. The amljassadijr duly reported this to his
master Fleury, and Fleury wrote to Frederick : ' Voire
maje.sti' aurn jugi aisi'ment par tons les Ji^cours de my
Lord Carteret, quil vondroit se rendre /ueJtafexr. etfaire
reprendre an roy smi maitre Vinfluence qu'il anrtt eiie
dans toutes les einarres de VEureqie. et je snis lien assure
(pie rien n'ec/iopiiera pav ses lumieres.' ^ In that opinion
Fleury was perfectly correct ; nothing would or did
escape Carteret's ' lights,' and Frederick also was soon
aware of that. It wa> voi-y early evident that Carteret's
foreign policy was a factor which European Kings
and statesmen would have to consider with rc-pectful
attention.

' Add. MSS. 22,r,i-2 ; fol. .01, v. March 20, 1742.

POWER 247

Carteret's decisive determination, resting upon un-
rivalled political knowledge, was backed up by a
warlike King and an eager nation. Half a million was
at once voted for the support of Maria Theresa. The
cause of the House of Austria was recognised as the
cause of public good faith and security, and, strangely
as such a thing sounds in these later days, as the cause
of liberty. When Prince William of Hesse urged upon
Carteret that England should take no active part in the
continental quarrel, Carteret would not listen for a
moment, but declared that it was both the glory and
the duty of England to support the Empire against the
ambitious interference of France. But Carteret clearly
saw that one preliminary step was almost essential.
Austria must make peace with Frederick. Carteret had
seen this from the first. He had said in Parliament
months before that if he had been in power a recon-
ciliation between Prussia and Austria would have been
his first care. Now that power was his, he was true to
his old opinion. In his despatches to the ambassadors
abroad he never wearied in pressing this view upon
them.^ The detachment of Frederick from the alliance
Avith France would, he urged, be a fatal stroke to all
the French schemes in Germany. And he was ver}^
hopeful of accomplishing it ; for he shrewdly saw that
Frederick's most earnest prayer might soon be a praj-er
for deliverance from his so-called friends. The French
were certainly not at all minded to overthrow Austria
in order to put Prussia in its place. Belleisle and the
rather doubtful characters at the French Court, who
had entered so eagerly into his scheme for partitioning

' The statements made in this cliapter regarding Carteret's own opinions
and policy, and the quotations from his own language, are almost entirely
from his Toluminous j\iS. correspondence in the British iliiseum. It is
not desirable to load the page with refeienees in each particular case.

248 LORD CABTEBET

Germany and making it little more than a hanger-on of
Versailles, had little enthusiasm and less practical help
to lavish on an ally, except when it entirely suited their
own convenience. Frederick was already feeling this
in his unfortunate Moravian expedition ; and at the
end of April 1742 tlie Eail of Stair, Avho had suc-
ceeded Argyle at the War Office, and had gone over
to the Hague to attempt to rouse tlie Dutch to some-
thing like energy, wrote home to Carteret : ' 'Tis certain
at this time his Prussian majesty is very sick of the
French.' So Carteret was hopeful ; the one possible
difficulty was his acknowledged inability as yet definitely
to answer the question : What is the real character of
this new King of Prussia ? Xo complete answer was at
this time possible for foreign or even for Prussian ob-
servers ; many of the attempted rephes were ludicrous
failures. Horace Walpole with easy infallibihty was
iust laving- it down to his friend Mann that Frederick's
personal cowardice was a well-estabhshed fact. Car-
teret's estimate is really true as far as it goes, and is
interesting as the admittedly imperfect opinion of one
of the keenest political observers in Europe. He writes
to the English ambassador, Hyndford, at BerUn : ' From
what we know of his [Frederick's] character, the way
in which you can hope to make any lasting impression
on him is pointing out to him liis interest and his
danger, rather than that of courtship and exhortation
from any other principles. . . Xegotiating with him
we hold to be extremely dangerous, and your Lordship
mu.^t have the greatest guard upon yourself in con-
ferring with him.'

While Carteret was writing this letter, Frederick
was retreating from Moravia. Here was another of
what Carteret called Maria's unexpected happy sue-

POWEB 249

cesses. The King of Prussia, practically abandoned by
his allies, made his way to Bohemia, there to await
Maria's brother, Prince Charles, and his pursuing Aus-
trians. Yet when Frederick's situation seemed most
unfortunate he had a decided deliverance. Prince
Charles entered Bohemia, and on May 17, 1742, fought
the battle known indifferently by the names of Chotu-
sitz and Czaslau. From the military point of view, the
Austrians might perhaps have been more completely
defeated, but on the political side Frederick might well
be perfectly satisfied. Maria could no longer refuse to
consider terms of peace. The Enghsh Government re-
ceived the news of the battle with great concern, and at
once spoke importunately at Vienna. From Frederick
himself there came to the Prussian minister in London
a letter, dated two days after the battle, containing an
offer which was to be communicated to Carteret alone.
The minister would not venture to give to Carteret a
word of it in writing; ; ^ and was so terrified with bein"
made responsible with his head for the secret of this
overture, that I could only obtain from him to let me
take down in writing from his mouth the most material
passage.' This was the ])assage in which Frederick de-
clared that he could not himself take up arms against
the French, who were nominally at least his allies ; but
also asserted his complete willingness to make peace
witli Maria, ' ,^i on pent porter hi reine cFTJongrie a
in'accorder de-s conditions avantaij eases ; ' ^ in other
words, if the Queen would sanction the cession of
Silesia. Andrie, the Prussian ambassador, was ordered
to report Carteret's reply in his very words, and Carte-
ret spoke therefore vei'y cautiously. But he agreed
that Vienna ought to grant Frederick ' advantageous

' Carteret to Robinson ; May 2S, 1742. Add. MSS. 22,-529 : fol. 30.

250 LOBD CABTEBET

conditions,' and promised that England would continue
to press Maria to consent.

Eeluctantly, but seeing there was no help for it,
Maria yielded, and granted the peace which Frederick
required. The arrangements were entrusted to the
English ambassador, Hyndford, who went to Frederick
at Breslau to settle all details with the due formalities.
Hyndford was soon successful. On June 11 the
Treaty of Breslau was signed ; Silesia was ceded to
Frederick, and Austria and Prussia were at peace.
' The greatest blow that France has received since the
happy accession of the House of Hanover to the crown
of Great Britain,' wrote Hyndford gladly to Carteret,
two days after the signing ; and Carteret also called it
a great and happy event. Frederick himself was pro-
fuse in compliments to Carteret over the matter ; a
work Avorthy, said Frederick, of Carteret's ministry and
of Carteret's own ' grandes lumieres.' In his Histoire
de mon Temps, Frederick expressly says : ' Le Lord
Carteret fut le principal promoteur de cet ouvrage.' It
was indeed a very satisfactory beginning of the minis-
ter's power, and it gained him great popularity in
England. ' Lord Carteret,' Avrote one of the permanent
Government officials, ' gains great esteem and ground
by his resolution and unshaken fermetc, and will carry
matters, I doubt not, in such a channel that the people
will be, as they daily are, more and more pleased.' ^
The Earl of Bentinck wrote from the Hague to his
mother, the Countess Dowager of Portland : ' I assure
you that if Lord Carteret is the man that advised send-
ing troops into Flanders, it is very much for his honour.

. . And it was certainly a mighty well-judged

' Mr. Porter to Robinson at Vinnna ; June 14, 1742. Add. MSS.
9,1^0; fol. 11.3.

POWEB 251

tiling to show that one is in earnest in the defence
of the House of Austria. ... I heartily wish Lord
Carteret good success in all his undertakings. He is in
the right way as to foreign affairs. I have seen some of
his despatches both in English and in French, and not
Avithout admiration as to the principles and sentiments,
as well as for the turn and style, but above all for
the vigour and spirit, which must save Europe at
present.' ■"■

Maria's chief enemy was thus removed ; and the
French and Bavarians, left staiidiiicf alone ao-ainst
Austria, had meanwhile been faring badly enough.
KhevenhuUer, since he took Linz, had seized Passau
and Munich, and was master of all Bavaria south of the
Danube ; and the French, who had indeed taken Prag,
were now shut up and themselves besieged in it.
Could not England now, thought Carteret, strike in
energetically, and make her second attempt to support
the Queen more successful than the first had proved ?
Carteret, exuw before these fortunate events, had re-
solved at least to try. Stair, the Commander-in-Chief,
held high views of attacking the French frontier
toAvards the Xetherlands, of reducing Dunkirk, and
even penetrating tlirough an undefended country to
Paris. SLxteen thousand English troops were to join the
Dutch in the Netherlands ; George's own Hanoverians
were 1G,000 more, and 6,000 Hessians were bound to
England by subsidy. AVith Maria's contribution of
14,000 men, the united English and Austrians would
number 52,000 in tlie Lowlands. Eeinforced by the
promised 20,000 Dutch, the force woidd be really more
than respectable. But the terribly laggard Dutch were
the one dark and doubtful spot. Their Government

1 June ±2, 174i'. Brit. Mus. Eirerton MSS. ; 1,712 ; fol. 2.")2.

252 LOBD CABTERET

had been discussing and protesting and promising for
weary months back, and httle had come of the ahuost
frantic efforts of diplomacy but endless despatches and
infinite futility. Only a few days after he had come
into power, Carteret had received from Trevor, the
Englisli ambassador at the Hague, the Avelcome news
that Holland had really resolved to be active ; but
between resolving and carrying out resolutions there
was evidently room for much. A very few days later
Trevor had to write that there was a party in Holland
which would take alarm at any proposal that was not
as insipid and insignificant as water- gruel. Xow the
new, vigorous English Government, resolute to spare
no effort, sent over the Earl of Stair as ambassador
extraordinary, to see if Holland would not act a Httle
more, and talk a little less. Stair was able to give the
Dutch substantial proof of England's earnestness in
the cause, for parliament had voted the half-million
to Maria on the day on which he left England. And
at first it even seemed possible that Stair might be
siiccessful.

In England itself the military activity was great.
A camp was established on Lexden Heath, near Col-
chester, and frequent reviews were held, to the huge
delight of military George and his corpulent son, the
Duke of Cumberland ; for Cumberland also fancied
himself a soldier of genius, and made England pay con-
siderably for that pleasant notion. In May the Enghsh
ti'oops began to embark in the transports at Gravesend ;
the first instalment of them reached C)stend before that
month was over. ' We send our forces over as fast as
possilile,' wrote Carteret in June to Stair, ' to be under
your command, and our affaijs are bi'ought to a much
Ijetter consistency tlian I could have hoped for in so

POWEB 2oS

short a time. . . . Our measures give satisfaction at
home, as all the world now sees that we are no longer
to be led by France.' ^ All through the summer the
troops continued to cross the sea, and the 22,000
Hanoverians and Hessians were ready to march into
Flanders to join them. Surely now the Dutch, seeing
38,000 men in British pay, and Maria's 14,000 ready
also to take part, would throw off their heavy sluggish-
ness, and at last co-operate in reality. In spite of all
England's efforts, it seemed that after all they would
not. In this same month of June Stair had to write to
Carteret that not a Dutchman had been in Trevor's
house for a month ; and the well-meaning, though
always slightly impracticable, old soldier — he Avas now
seventy years old — began to ask himself if it was worth
while to stay among such a sluggishly ponderous people
any longer. ' I shall never desire to eat the King's
Ijread when I cannot be useful to his service. When-
ever that happens, my Lord,' he wrote to Carteret, ' I
shall desire to return to my plough, whence your Lord-
ship knows I came unwillingly.'

It was exactly in these very June days, while
English statesmen could do little but gaze imploringly
with a kind of despairing hope at their exceedingly
lethargic alhes, that the Treat}" of Breslau was success-
fully accomplished. Even the rather despondent Stair
had reckoned that the heavy Dutchmen would stir if
only Maria and Frederick could be brought to terms.
Here, now, was tins actually accomplished ; yet the
Dutch remained as stolid and immovable as ever. It
was exceedingly provoking, for something really im-
portant might have marked the next few weeks if there
had been anything like cheerful co-operation. Maille-

' J. M. Graham's Stair, II. 280.

•254 LOBD CABTEBET

bois and his French, who had so long been threaten-
ing Hanover, had left Germany altogether "when the
new Englisli administration Avas seen to be in earnest,
and had marched for Dunkirk, anticipating a possible
English attack there. But now, in August, Maillebois
received sudden orders to quit Dunkirk and hasten to
the help of the French besieged in Prag. Carteret
could hardly believe tliis news when first he heard it.
The departure of the French left the road to Paria
perfectly open — not a French soldier Ijctween Paris
and the English arm}'. From another point of view,
however, Carteret strongly disliked this proceeding of
Maillebois, and writing to Hyndford he says that 'it
appears to his majesty to be high time to put an end
to these inroads of the French upon Germany, and to
clear the Empire of those already there.' At the same
time the movement of the French seemed to offer
England a decided military chance. Could not, at the
very least, the Dunkirk question be once for all settled?
Or could not the allied armies give a good account of
Maillebois if he should attempt to return there .' George
himself, now that at Jast there seemed a prospect of
fighting instead of arguing, would go over to put him-
self at the head of his troops : —

Give us our fiddle ; we ourselves will play ;

as the opposition journals unkindly quoted. Carteret
was to accompany the King, who seemed bent upon the
undertaking ; the royal baggage and saddle-horses did
actually get as far as C^ravesend ; but tliey got no
farther. It had been intended that Carteret should
take the Hague in his way, and find out once for
all what could or could not be done with the remark-
aljle people there. But in tlie end it was decided

POWER 255

that Carteret, after visiting tlie Dutch statesmen,
should return to London before the King left Eng-
land ; and it was quite well understood that the King's
proposed visit to the Continent would chieil)' dejjend
upon the reports wliich Carteret brought home with
him.

Carteret arrived at the Hague on October 5, 1742.
Mi the difficulties which he would meet with from the
Dutch official people were represented to him on his
arrival ; but he replied that the principle to which he
had held throughout his whole life was to reject the
word ' impossible.'^ Perhaps, however, he was himself
surprised that he actually succeeded wth the Dutch.
He got from them a definite undertaking to join England
in paying subsidies to the Queen of Hungary, and a
promise that the 20,000 Dutch troops should join the
English army Avith all possible s])eed. At once, after
only a week's stay, Carteret hastened to make his way
home again, and nearly paid liis hfe for his success.
After being at sea for five days, he was driven by a
violent storm as far north as Hull ; with great difficulty
the man-of-war on which he sailed succeeded in reach-
ing Yarmouth. From Yarmouth Carteret made his way
to London by road ; and on the very day of his arrival
had an interview with the King at Kensington. Carteret,
writes gossiping Horace, ' was near being lost ; he told
the King that being in a storm, he had thought it safest
to put into Yarmouth Eoads, at which we laughed, hoh!
hoh ! hoh ! ' being easily amused.'-^ Of the minister's
serious talk gossiping Horace can give no report ; but
the day after the interview the royal horses and bao--

^ Adelung, Pragmntische StaaUgeschic.hte Europens, III. ((, 294.
■^ Duchess of Yarmouth was the Enghsh title of one of the King's Ger-
man -women.

256 LOBD CABTEEET

gage wliicli had been shipped for Flanders were brought
back aL^ain to London. There could be no thoughts of
a campaign that season ; the weather itself was alone
suffifient to decide that. The Dutch had at last been
secured ; but for the present nothing more could be
done than to elaborate plans for early and, if possible,
decisive action next season. The Austrian general
D'Ahremberg came to London to share in the military-
consultations. He was well received and feasted at
many entertainments, which always took the form of
suppers ; for D'Ahremberg insisted upon dining at
eleven o'clock in the morning, an hour or more too
early for the English world of fashion. He left London
in Xovember, very well satisfied with the newly devised
military scheme ; the final touches were to be given by
himself and Stair in union at the Hague. It had to
be confessed that the campaign of 1742 had been lost ;
but on all sides there was fixed determination to make
something of the next one. The troops which had so
long idl)' fingered in Flanders were garrisoned in the
ISTetherland towns for the winter, the English chiefly in
the neighbourhood of Ghent ; there to wait tiU the
spring of 1743 came round, and mifitary action was
again possible. Thus George's second attempt to help
]\Iaria Theresa with more than generous money subsi-
dies had practically been as unsuccessful as his first. In
the first he had been able to do absolutely nothing ; in
the second he had actually got his troops upon the
ground, but had not been able to use them ; in the
third he was destined to be successful at last, in a very
surprising manner.

The interval between the cantonment of the troops
in the Xetherlands during tlie -wdnter months, and the
beginning of their march into Germany next year, ^\■as

POWER 267

occupied in England by a rather stormy session of
parliament. The discontented members of the late
opposition were loudly asserting that Carteret and
Pidteney had betrayed them, and were anxious to
make Carteret at least feel their resentment. To attack
Pulteney was almost superfluous. His acceptance of a
peerage as Earl of Bath — his Countess was popularly
known as the Wife of Bath — had been the signal for
the ruin of his reputation. Satirists, pamphleteers, epi-
grammatists exhausted their vocabulary, from the polite
sneer down to the vulgarest ribaldry, over an event
which Walpole for his own purposes was reckoned to
have had a fair share in bringing about.-^ His influence
even with the Cabinet in which he sat was slight. He
did nut know beforehand of Carteret's important com-
mission to visit the Hague ; Newcastle announced it by
letter to him, as an event which would probably surprise
him. It was Carteret alone, therefore, who had to
endure the almost undivided anger of a disappointed
and discontented party. They had been attacking him
from the very moment when he had formed his Govern-
ment. In April 1742 Sandys said to Bishop Seeker
til at he could not imagine ^^■hy they all spoke against

' Sir C. II. Williams's lines are an inoffensive specimen of the general
feeling : —

' Great Earl of Bath, your reign is o'er ;
The Tories trust your word no more,

The Whigs no longer fear ye ;
Your g-ates are seldom now unbarr'd,
Xo crowds of coaches fill your yard,
And scarce a soul comes near ye. . . .

E.xpect to see that tribe no more,
Since all manliind perceives that power

Is lodg'd in other hands ;
Sooner to Carteret now they'll go,
Or even (though that's e.xcessi\ e low)

To Wilmington or Sands.'

208 LOBD CABTEBET

Carteret, unless it were because lie had better abilities
than any of them. Ar^'vle, of course, was one of these
earliest assailants. ' An Emperor may grow weary of
the servihty of a senate,' Carteret had once said in par-
liament. Hardly had Argyle resigned when, with the
irritated pique of a personally disappointed man, he
repeated these words of Carteret's, and bitterly added :
' A minister never will.' Throughout Carteret's first
session, those who had shared in the work of over-
throwing the old Government, and yet found them-
selves unimportant and uninfliiential under the new,
were fretting with unconcealed bitterness ; in his second
session their angry irritation A\-as naturally increased.
There was nothing surprising or, from one point of view,
very important in all this ; the weak point of the
C-i-overnment was the disunion and discord among its
own members. The old section of the Cabinet, tho'^e
who had been the friends and colleagues of Walpole,
could not well agree with the new section who had
driven Walpole from power. The views of tlie insignifi-
cant Wilmington were of no consequence ; no one knew
or cared whether he had any views or not. But New-
castle and Pelham and Hardwicke were rather the
thwarters than the colleagues of Carteret and the now
element in the Gi-overnraent. The Pelhams especially
were consumed vrii\\ jealousy at the leading position
which Carteret held. ' My Lord Carteret, who is in the
strictest connection with my brother and I,' Newcastle
had written some six months after the formation of the
new ministry ; but even at that early date there was
liardly more truth tlian grammar in the sentence. And
their jealousy went uw rapidly increasing a- every
mouth showed more 'Icarly that C'arteret was the real
master. To fight again-t the regular Tory opposition.

POWEB 259

reinforced by a number of able Whigs who fancied, or
at least pretended to fancy, that they had been wronged
and betrayed, and at the same time to hold on his way
against the underhand intriguings of insincere colleagues,
needed all Carteret's consciousness of ability and high
intentions, as well as the courageous buoyancy of dis-
position which never for a moment forsook him.

Parliament met at the end of November 1742. On
the very first day the opposition leaders took up the
subject on which they obstinately insisted all through
the session. Their order of the day was denunciation of
Hanover and all its works. Pitt was chosen as their
spokesman. There is no report of what he said on this
opening occasion, but he is not likely to have failed in
severity. ' Pitt spoke like ten thousand angels,' was the
enthusiastic comment of Eichard Grenville, afterwards
Earl Temple ; and the House of Commons on its first
day was in an exceedingly animated condition. But
the angelic eloquence which transported members with
admiration could not perform the altogether prosaic
task of gaining their votes ; the rhetorical performance
was no doubt very fine, but from a ministerial point of
view the division-list was far finer. The Lords did not
even venture to divide at all ; and Carteret was able to
congratulate himself on a good beginning. This first
night was indeed a fair epitome of the whole session.
There was abundance of angry opposition eloquence ;
abundance of personal abuse and sneering insinuations ;
but the exciting rhetorical proceedings always closed
with the solid victory of the Government. The two
chief questions that engaged the Houses are a sufficient
illustration. One was the question of the British troops
in Flanders. The opposition declared that to keep the
troops in garrison there till the next campaign could

S 2

260 LORD CABTEBET

begin was what the parliamentary jargon of the day
called a Hanoverian measure, and they insisted that
the men should be disbanded, ilurray's eloquence,
supporting the Government, was on this occasion heard
for the first time ; and the defeat of the opposition was
so overwhelming that Carteret gladly reckoned on its
probable good effect abroad. The other question roused
angrier feehngs. AVas Hanover or was England to pay
for the 1G,0U0 Hanoverian troops which George was
holding under arms ? They had been sent into Flanders
to join the English tliere ; if they were to be kept
England would inevitably have to pay for them, for the
King s Electoral means were in no way sufficient for such
luxuries. The outcry which the opposition raised was
terrible. Everything, tliey said, was done for Hanover,
nothing by Hanover. England's interests were invari-
ably sacrificed for the sake of a miserable little German
Electorate. In his slightly elaborate style of fashionable
sarcasm, Chesterfield asserted that the one effectual wav
of ruining the Pretender's hopes would be to make him
Elector of Hanover ; for never again would the Eng-
lish people accept a King from that quarter. He even
denounced Hanover and things Hanoverian in a pam-
phlet which had an unbounded success then, though it
is a weariness to think of now. In the House of Com-
mons the opposition promised themselves a ' glorious
day' over this much-argued question; and at lea-t
had the day, if they altogether missed the glory. lu
the Lords also there wa- much liveline-s. It wa~ hinted
that the Government's re-olve to pay the troops was
the deci-ion of C irteret alone. Bath, now in the same
Hou-e with Carteret, bluntly contradicted this. ' I am
personally obliged,' said Bath, • to speak on this subject
by the m dice of t!ie world, and the arts of the eneniies

rOWEE 2G1

of the Government. I did approve this measure, and
do approve it. It was not a rash measure of one single
man, but the united opinion of all the administration
who were present.' Carteret's enemies were also dis-
appointed in another direction. They had calculated
that Newcastle would at most gi\c only a silent vote for
the Government policy. But Newcastle spoke decidedly
in support of it. Horace Walpole says that Carteret
in his speech was ' under great concern.' There is no
evidence of that in the genuine fragments of the speech
which have survived. ' The present question,' Carteret
said, ' is : Will you submit to France or not ? I will
always traverse the views of France in place or out of
place; f)r France will ruin this nation if it can.' The
Government's victory was easy; and the stormy session
ended in April 1743.

And now began in earnest George's third attempt
to check the proceedings of the French in Germany.
Although the promise which the Dutch had made to
Carteret had not yet been fulfilled, it was resolved at
the end of 1742 that as soon as the weather allowed
the English troops should leave their garrisons in the
Netherlands, and march into Germany to the support
of the Queen of Hungary. Stair had naturally been
very much vexed at the long inaction. In his vexation
he made the singularly inappropriate mistake of fancy-
ing that some backwardness on Carteret's part Avas re-
sponsible for the delay. In the last months of 1742
Stair wrote some rather querulous letters to Carteret,
almost upbraiding him with a desertion of the cause
which in opposition he had so strenuously supported.
' I am very sure,' said Stair in one of these letters,
' that you have everything in your power that should
tempt the ambition of a great man.' Carteret good-

■2G2 LOBD CABTEBET

humouredly enough put him right. He had already
Avritten to Stair in July 1742 : ' I am looked upon by
many of my friends and yours as too rash, though I don't
carry my views so far as your Lordship, which may
proceed from my ignorance in military affairs.' ^ Stair
soon found that in reproaching Carteret he had made a
complete mistake, and before the year was over he fully
acknowledged it : —

' I thank your Lordship for the honour of your
private letter of the 22nd of Xovember, O.S. ; I can
assure your Lordship with great truth that for your own
sake nothing can be a greater pleasure to me than to see
evidently that your Lordship pursues the same system
of foreign affairs which I took to be your system when
your Lordship brought me into his majesty's service. . . .
I am very sure the King, our master, has everything in
his power for the safety and honour of Great Britain,
for the good of Europe, and for his own glory ; and
Lord Carteret will with justice be thought the main
spring of moving the great machine.' ^

For indeed there was no backwardness in Carteret
or in the King ; but, altogether apart from the slowness
of the Dutch, whose heavy sluggishness has at times
something almost comic about it, there were various
difficulties in the way, the Queen of Hungary herseli
being one of the chief of them. Maria was very chival-
rous, and high-minded, and interesting; but she Avas
not very practicable to deal with, even when it was her
own interest that was chiefly concerned. Month after
month Carteret had been urging her to gain over the
King of Sardinia and so strengthen herself against
France on the south side of the Alps ; yet she would do

' J. M. Graham's Stair, II. 287.
2 Add. .MSS. 6,911; M. -23.

POWER 2G3

nothing but show what Carteret called an ill-judged in-
flexibility. Her needlessly sharp-tongued way of speak-
ing of the Emperor, the ' so-called Emperor,' the ' pre-
tended head of the Empire,' might, as Carteret said, be
very piquant ; yet its useless acrimony and severity
tended to alienate from her the various members of the
Empire. Her language to George himself, her one firm
ally, was often very bitter and reproachful, little as it
sliould have been so. All this very considerablj' in-
creased the otherwise sufficient difficulties of the English
Government. Frederick, too, had a word to say. He
disliked the entrance of foreign troops into the Empire.
But Carteret replied that his real object was to protect
the Empire and to rid it of the French ; and he declined to
allow any foreign power to prescribe the mode of action
which England must adopt. Frederick soon softened
his language, and declared that he would observe an
exact ueutrahty.

The preliminary difficulties were at length all over-
come, and on March 1, 1743, the English troops, after
so many weary months of waiting, began to leave their
headquarters at Ghent, and marched slowly towards
the Ehine. On March 5, in splendid weather, Stair was
at Aix-la-Chapelle, while his men behind him were daily
crossing the Meuse, 'in great health and great spirits,'
he informed Carteret. ' With such troops one might
modestly hope to do anything.' The 16,000 Hano-
verians were with them ; Austrian reinforcements
brought the total up to 40,000 men. In the rear, and
not yet in actual union with the main body, were 6,000
hired Hessians, and 6,000 extra Hanoverians whom
George himself as Elector contributed. George also
was soon in motion, eager to fight. As soon as possible
after the rising of parliament, he and his son Cumber-

204 LOBD CARTEBET

land, accompanied by Carteret, left England for the
Continent. While the King went on at once to Hanover,
Carteret remained for a week at the Hague, once
more discussing public affairs with the Dutch states-
men, and endeavouring to infuse into their torpid lan-
guor something of his o\\'n energy. He found a happy
change among them since his last year's visit. Carteret
expressly says that the great parhamentary majorities
which had supported the English Government through-
out the session had produced an excellent effect in
Holland. People there had become fully convinced
that England was really in earnest ; they adopted the
conviction the more easily perhaps now that the
enemies of Austria were in a generally unfortunate
condition. The French had indeed got out of Prag ;
but their interference in Germany had so far come to
little more than nothing, while the new Emperor whom
they had supported was receiving ruinous blows from
Prince Charles and his victorious Austrians. In these
happier circumstances, the Dutch, while Carteret was
stiU at the Hague, at last named the commander for
their contribution of 20,000 men. Carteret then at
once made his way to Hanover.

From Hanover, where he arrived at the end of Mav,
Carteret instructed Stair to get together all his troops,
English, Hanoverians, and Hessians, with the least
possible loss of time. Stair had crossed the Ehine near
Coblentz in the last days of April, and throughout ]May
was encamped at Hoclist, between Frankfort and
Mainz, waiting for the Hessians who were foUowinor
him from the Netherlands. They had been difficult
to get, for tliey were unwilling to fight against the
Emperor, and they never proved of any service to
the Enghsh in the campaign. "When June came, Stair

POWER 2G5

waited no longer for them or for the King's own 6,000
Hanoverians, but pushed on, probably himself wishing
to make for Bavaria, and in union with Prince Charles
to clear that neighbourhood of the French. Stair
marched up the Mayn, reaching AschafFenberg in the
middle of June ; but there he halted. On the other
side of the river stood the French general Noailles,
with some 60,000 men ; Stair numbered about 43,000,
all told. But JSToailles would not be induced to fight.
He hoped to weary out and starve his enemies, and in
that way more efiectually beat them. Stair would have
himself attacked Noailles, and so have compelled him
to give battle ; but the Austrian general D'Ahremberg
absolutely refused ; and thus for days the alhed army
lay inactive at Aschaffenberg. It was during this
period of inaction that the King, Cumberland, and
Carteret arrived at headquarters. They found the
army in a very critical condition. Stair and D'Ahrem-
berg were not on cordial terms ; the English and
Hanoverian troops did not get on well together. There
were great sufferings among the soldiers, the commis-
sariat department being in a state of very confused
inefficiency. The men were beginning to throw off
discipline ; robbing churches, plundering villages ; so
that the frightened peasants left their homes, drove
their cattle into the woods, and reduced the supply
department to a worse condition than ever. The effi-
cient force of the army was already lessened by some
5,000 men. But the arrival of the King to some extent
restored matters. Strict orders on matters of discipline
•were read at the head of every regiment ; George
himself, if always a little ludicrous on the military side,
knew much better how to manage an army than to rule
a kingdom. A letter of Carteret's gives a glimpse of

■2m LORD CABTEBET

things at Aschaffenberg in those days of waiting before
the battle of Dettingen : —

' We have forty or more deserters coming in every
day from the French, but they are mostly hussars, Irish
and Swiss, very few French, among them some Germans.
The hussars have picked up some of our people, but
the Marshal de XoaiUes has sent them back with much
civility, and we have sent him some of his people, with
the same pohteness. . . . His majesty is in perfect
health and spirits ; is always booted, and rides out to
several of the most material posts twice a day. The
Duke [Cumberland] is very well and very active, and
so are the Duke of Marlborough, Lord Albemarle,
Lord Bury, and all your Grace's friends. I say nothing
of myself, but my son is liked and does his part as a
volunteer very weU. I make no doubt that aU will end
with honour and for the good of our country. The
Duke D'Ahremberg and Marshal Xeipperg are just gone
from me (I can write nothing without interruption), so
you must forgive any faults I make in writing. They
tell me his majesty s orders for the good disciphne of
the army have had already a very good effect, and that
without it we should have been soon in confusion.' ^

After the King had been at Aschaffenberg aAveek, it
was clear that the army could stay there no longer.
The provision question proved impossible of solution
there, and on June 26 George and the generals resolved
to fall back down the river to Hanau, where the Mayn
takes its direct bend to the left to find its way into the
Ehine at Mainz. At Hanau Avere the magazines, and
there too the advancing Hessians had been ordered to
wait. From Aschaffenberg to Hanau, along the north
bank of the river, is some sixteen English miles. Xearly

' To Newcastle ; Add. MSS. 22,-0.30 ; fol. 7-3, 74.

POWER 267

midway between the two places, close on the Mayn,
was the village of Dettingen, and, just beyond Dettingen,
on the other side of the river, another small village,
Seligenstadt, destined to be an important little place
next day. The line of march was through a cramped
valley, from which the army could not possibly turn
aside ; for their left was bounded by the Mayn, and
along the right stretched the woody hills of the Spes-
sart-Wald. The conditions were evidently uncomfort-
able ; but there was no remedy. Very silently, in the
early hours of June 27, the allied army began its march.
The King was with the English in the rear, for it was
reckoned that the enemy's chief attack would be in
that quarter. Noailles did indeed seize Aschaffenberg
as soon as the Enghsh left it, but he had no desire to
try any fighting there. He had formed a plan which
seemingly could not fail. Observing that the allies
meant to withdraw by way of Dettingen, he had, un-
known to them, thrown two bridges across the Mayn at
Sehgenstadt, and sent his nephew, the Duke of Gram-
mont, over with a considerable force to secure the
ground in front of the village. Crossing the road of the
retreating army, just before they could gain the Dettin-
gen hamlet, a brook came down from the Spessart-Wald
to join the river, and so formed a ravine with rougli
boggy land, difficult for orderly marching. Noailles
intended that while the allies were confusedly struggling
in this ravine and morass, and while the French batteries,
which they could not avoid, were playing upon them from
the other side of the river, Grammont should fall upon
them in front, and in all human probability end the busi-
ness. Noailles himself, by seizing Aschaffenberg, had shut
out all chance of an escape in the rear ; he had his enemy
in a trap, and considered the affair as good as ended.

208 LOBD CAETEBET.

Undisturbed by Xoailles, the allies continued their
march, without thought of any danger in store for them
ahead. By eight o'clock in the morning their advanced
parties had reached Dettingen, but not to enter the
village. The unexpected sight of the French and of
the bridges just beyond instantly revealed to them the
real position of affairs, and they galloped back to the
army with the surprising news. The army halted, for
the post of honour now was not the rear but the van,
and George must come to the front. So the EngHsh
and Austrians waited, facing the boggy ravine, while
behind it stood Grammont, expecting their approach
with grim satisfaction. The allies had not even two
plans to choose between ; they could do nothing biit
make a desperate attempt to cut their way straight
through, at whatever cost. Scientific mihtary arrange-
ments in that narrow, cramped ground were next to
impossible. The little that could be done in that
direction was done, and the men were ready to advance ;
when suddenly, in the early afternoon, a "wild mistake
of the French changed all the chances of the engage-
ment. Grammont, not restraining himself any longer,
broke his uncle's orders, left his own strong Dettingen
position, crossed the ravine, and attacked the enemy in
a pcsition quite as good as Lis own. For a moment his
mad impetuosity had a touch of success. The allies'
left line broke before the onset of the French cavalr}'.
But it recovered, and Grammont had no other even
temporary satisfaction to excuse his rash and fatal folly.
From two o'clock till six the battle lasted, and the
French could make no impression anywhere. George
himself led the infantry ; his horse ran away with him
early in the action, and during the rest of the fighting he
was on foot. ' Don't talk to me of danger ; I'll be even

POWER 269

with them.' Before the sohd mass of foot-soldiers the
French could not stand ; they broke and hurriedly
retreated. The retreat was turned into a flight. Some
fled into the woods, many were drowned while trying
to cross the river, many were cut down before they
could reach the two bridges. The English were left in
undisturbed possession of the field ; and their little
King, full of martial enthusiasm, remained on the
ground till ten o'clock at night, contentedly dining
there on a cold shoulder of mutton.

Carteret, as a civilian, had no personal share in the
battle. He sat all through the hours of the engage-
ment in his coach close to the field of action, and
witnessed one of the ludicrous episodes of the day when
the Archbishop of Mayence came up to his carriage
window, and, in the height of the action, cried out to
Carteret : ' Milord, je protests contre toute violence.' ^
That same night, from the Dettingen cotta.ge which he
shared with the Austrian marshal Neipperg, Carteret
Avrote home to Newcastle a short and hurried despatch
announcing the victory. The graces of style of the
polite letter-writer were, in such very confused cir-
cumstances, hardly to be looked for ; and Carteret's
letter, though it did all that was necessary in the way
of accurate information, was in style abrupt and awk-
ward enough. Small wits at home made very merry
over what they reckoned as its defects. Lord Shelburne,
surely with some exaggeration, notices it as a remark-
able fact that neither Pitt nor Carteret could write an
ordinary letter well. But no one was more willing to
recognise the imperfections of this jerky, bulletin-like
little niissi\-e than Carteret himself. What is unfortu-
nately the one anecdote of Carlci'et in BosweU's book

' Add. MSS, 11,2IJ2 ; fol. 13.

270 LOBD CABTEBET

tells how he exclaimed after writing his despatch :
' Here is a letter expressed in terms not good enough
for a tallow-chandler to have used.' Literary defects,
however, counted for little in consideration of the news
which tlie letter brought. The nation went wild with
joy over its remarkable victory; illuminating the streets,
lighting bonfires, firing guns. ' My Lord,' writes Horace
"Walpole of his father, ' has been drinking the healths
of Lord Stair and Lord Carteret; he says, since it is
well done, he does not care by whom it was done. . .
The mob are wild, and cry, Long hve King George, and
the Duke of Cumberland, and Lord Stair, and Lord
Carteret, and General Clayton that's dead !' More last-
ing than the noisy enthusiasm of the people was Handel's
thanksgiving music ; whose Dettingen Te Deum is pretty
much all that is left of this once so famous victory.

The allied army without loss of time safely made its
way to its magazines at Hanau, where it was joined by
the Hessians and the extra Hanoverians. Jealousies
and recriminations between the English troops and their
foreign allies were not few, and Stair in disgust re-
signed and returned 'to his plough.' Many commu-
nications and negotiations with the French commander
Xoailles thus fell necessarily into Carteret's hands,
and a jealous opposition at home asked : Is Carteret
the new Commander-in-Chief, then .^ thinking there was
considerable sprightliness in the question. The ' three
Johns,' Argyle, Stair, and Carteret, offered a chance to
scjme rather indifferent verse-monger : —

Jolin, Duke of Argyle, we admired for a while,

"Whose titles fell short of his merit ;
His loPs to repair, we took John, Earl of Stair,

Who, like him, had both virtue and merit.

POWER 271

Now he too is gone. AL. ! what's to be done ?

Such losses how can we supply ?
But let's not repine, on the banks of the Rhine

There's a third John his fortune will trj'.

By the Patriots' vagary, he was made Secretary,
By himself he's Prime Minister made ;

And now to crown all, he's become General,
Though he ne'er was bred up to the trade.

But Carteret liacl more serious arrangements than
temporary military ones to make. The newlj' elected
Emperor Avas now left without allies ; the French, who
had set him up, were beaten and already making their
way out of the Empire. It was pressingly essential for
this puppet-Emperor to secure his speedy peace with
England. He had been trying this by help of Prince
AVilliam of Hesse, all through the year 1742. Between
Carleret and the Prince there had been a copious corre-
spondence ; more or less beseeching on the Prince's part,
who dwelt earnestly on the admirable quahties of the
Emperor, and begged English official commiseration for
a sovereign in difficulties. But Carteret was always
poHtely firm ; dead against an admirable Emperor who
was closely bound to the French ; whose proposed plans
of arrangement were mere ' visionary and impracticable
schemes,' made, too, as the Enghsh Government dis-
covered, in private concert with France. As nothing
came of his very self-interested appeals, the Emperor
next year went further. In June 1743, while George
and Carteret were still at Hanover making ready to join
the army. Prince "William of Hesse arrived there with a
letter from the liead of the Empire. The Emperor
offered to accept any terms of peace which England
could procure him from "Vienna, if only they were com-
patiljle with his honour and dignity. The appealino'

272 LOBD CABTEBET

vagueness of this letter was replied to by Carteret with
no lack of clearness. He reported home to Xewcastle : —
' When I had read it, I told him [Prince "William]
plainly, that the King would never advise the Queen of
Hungary to make the least cession of any part of her
dominions to the Emperor ; and that no peace could be
made between the Emperor and the Queen of Hungary
without his Imperial Majesty's giving up all claims and
pretensions to the Queen of Hungary's entire dominions ;
that if his Imperial Majesty would immediately and
publicly detach himself from France, we would endea-
vour to do him the most good we could, provided it
was not at the expense of the Queen of Hungary, who
would not so much as sacrifice a village to him. . . . The
Prince of Hesse then asked me whether the King would
propose a cessation of arms between the Emperor and the
Queen of Hungary. I answered him, Xo ; that the
Queen of Hungary and her auxiliaries would push to
tlie utmost aU their advantages ; that if we run risks,
and fought battles and succeeded, we would make the
most of them ; but yet we would rather avoid tliose
extremities ; therefore I could answer for nothing but
the security of his Imperial Majesty s person and liberty
at Frankfort, when once he shall get there ; but if he
should be intercepted in his journey thither by the
Austrians, we could not be blamed. . . . The Prince of
Hesse did not talk to me upon any other subject, and I
did not give him any encouragement so to do, but am
to see him to-morrow, when we shall talk upon diver-
other things. He only told me ea pa^f^iint, that we had
found the true way to deal with the CVjiirt of Berlin, and
tliat the King of Prussia would observe an exact neu-
trality. I told liim that we had no arts, but proceeded.
Avith relation to liis Prussian majesty, as we would

POWER 273

towards all other German powers, with civility, courage,
and truth ; that the King and his ministers knew no other
pontics. I left him to dress to go and dine with the King.'
This was three weeks before the battle of Uettingen.
Carteret clearly let the Emperor understand that Eng-
land would be no party to patching up a separate peace
between himself and Maria Theresa so long as he clung
to his alliance with the French. Tliis decision would
not, as the Prince said to Carteret, be fort consolant to
the Emperor ; but Carteret was firm, and nothing more
could be got from him. Diplomacy now yielded to
arms ; and if there was little consolation to an unfortu-
nate Emperor in the limited promises of statesmanship,
there was less by far in a surprising battle ofDettingen.
Negotiations after that decisive event became there-
fore more active than ever. The Emperor had safely
reached Frankfort ; the English headquarters were at
Hanau, where George remained for two months after
the battle. Once more Prince William of Hesse ap-
peared on the scene. Carteret received him with the
sincere wish to secure a definite and friendly under-
standing. 'Britannic Majesty is not himself very for-
ward ; but Carteret, I rather judge, had taken up the
notion ; and on his Majesty's and Carteret's part, there
is actually the wish and attempt to pacificate theEeicli ;
to do something tolerable for the poor Kaiser.' ^ On
one preliminary condition, however, Carteret was de-
cisively insistent. The Emperor must altogether and
at once cut himself loose from the French. Charles
Avas eager to recover his Bavaria from Maria ; eager
also for money to tide him over his present ruinous
circumstances. What might be done in these directions
Carteret prudently declined to say ; Prince William

1 Carljle's Freda-kk. Book XH'. Chap. V.

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274 LOBD CABTEBET

could extract from him nothing but the promise that
England would give all possible help to the Emperor
as soon as he sincerely joined the aUies in driving the
French out of Germany. With this reply Prince
WiUiam returned on July 7, 1743, from Hanau
to Frankfort. The two or three days immediately
following produced several vague, general propositions
from the Prince, which Carteret pohtely refused to
entertain ; tiU the Emperor, considering that the French
were already in fuU retreat, and knowing that his own
circumstances could by delay become only worse in-
stead of better, resolved to accept Carteret's prehminary.
Precisely one week after the Prince had taken Carteret's
reply to Frankfort, he informed Carteret that the Em-
peror agreed ; that he would renounce all his preten-
sions to Austrian dominions, and entirely quit the
French aUiance. One week had brouglit matters so
far. Frederick of Prussia approved ; he wrote from
Berhn to Carteret, expressing his great esteem, and
signing himself votre tres-affectionne ami, Fi'deric. Carte-
ret himself, though not forgetful of the obstinacy of Maria
Theresa, was fuUy hopeful of success. 'All Europe sees
what a great scene this is, what a glorious figure his
majesty makes,' he wrote to Newcastle. ' France has
not been for a century under so great difficulties as
at present, and if the Emperor, the Empire, and the
States-General wiU heartily join with liis majesty, the
Queen of Hungary, and the King of Sardiiiia, there is
aU the probabihty and, I will venture to say, as much
certainty as human affairs \vill admit of, to trust that, by
the Ijlessing of Go'I. a safe, lasting, and general peace may
be procured, not impossible in this very campaign.'

Such were the plans and hopes of Ernijerors, Kings,
and statesmen; all of them unfortunately forgetting

POWER 275

that in a high ofBcial position in Whitehall sat a
ridiculous Duke of Newcastle. On July 1-3 the Prince
went to Carteret, confident of getting the official signa-
tures which would finish the affair ; but found himself
quite disappointed. There was naoney involved in the
treaty ; a monthly subsidy to be paid to the Emperor
till his present very broken circumstances could be
somewhat retrieved. George and Carteret had both to
tell the anxious Prince that ministers in London must
first be consulted before they could put their hands to
that; that fifteen days must pass before a messenger
could go and come. All Carteret's hopes and wishes
were for the acceptance of the treaty ; he urged it
upon his colleagues in London as the essential pre-
liminary to the union of all Germany against the
French. It was in vain. Why not make peace with
France, and leave Germany alone altogether ? asked
the ministers in England, and refused to have anything
to do with the proposed arrangement. On August 1,
1743, this reply reached Hanau, and Carteret had to
let Prince William know that for the present the only
result was failure. A ridiculous Duke of Newcastle
had ruined the far-seeing plans of the statesman whose
mastery of foreign affairs was known in every capital in
Europe. A ridiculous Duke, who believed that Han-
over was north of England, and probably thought that
Dettingen was on the top of Cape Breton (which in
later years he was so refreshed to discover was an
island), had interfered with the statesmanship of the
one English minister to whom the intricacies of German
politics were no insoluble mystery. The peddling
])edanticism of the most imbecile even of political
Dukes, for whom politics ranged from potwallopers to
Knights of the Garter and back again, had its way ;

T 2

276 LOBD CABTEBET

and Carteret's high schemes for the pacification of the
Empire and the defeat of French plans in Germany
were forced to yield before the ignorant insularities of
the Cockpit at Whitehall. There was, in addition, per-
sonal abuse and misconception of himself involved in
this failure — if Carteret had not been too proud to
think or complain of that. The Emperor, Prince
William of Hesse, Frederick of Prussia, all reckoned
that the fault was Carteret's alone. Brochures were
printed on the Continent dwelling painfully on the
mystery and iniquity of the affair ; Prince William
himself sent to the Hessian minister at the Hague a
long indictment of Carteret and his treachery. ' Prince
William's accusation of Lord Carteret makes a great
noise here, and will, I hope, be duly refuted in England,'
wrote Mr. Trevor, Enghsh minister at the Hague. ^
The Kings and kinglets of the Continent, imperfectly ac-
quainted with the beautiful working of English party
politics, could not understand how it was that when
the English King and the English chief minister pro-
fessed to desire a certain pohtical action they should
yet be unable to realise their desires. Prince William
professed to believe that Carteret had never consulted
the Eegency in England at all, and that his account of
the failure of the scheme was sheer falsehood. Even
Frederick the Great, it is regretfully surmised,'^ felt
convinced that it was all Carteret's trickery and
treachery. Carteret bore it all, as well as the still
more ignorant abuse which was awaiting him in
England, in a very proud, uncomplaining way ; conscious
how unjust it was, but having already lived in the
thick of pohtics for thirty-two years. ' Carteret, for

' Sept. 15, 1744.

' By Carlyle ; the only historian who has thought it worth while to

POWEB 277

this Hanau business, had clangours enough to undergo,
poor man, from Germans and from Enghsh ; which was
wholly unjust. His trade, say the Enghsh — (or used
to say, till they forgot their considerable Carteret alto-
gether) — was that of rising in the world by feeding the
mad German humours of little George ; a miserable
trade ! Yes, my friends ; — but it was not quite Car-
teret's, if you will please to examine ! ' ^

Carteret's high plan of reconcihng the Emperor and
Maria Theresa, and of so uniting all Germany against
the French, thus went to ruin, and no more negotiating
at Hanau was possible. In these circumstances the
English camp there was struck, and at the end of
August the King and Carteret arrived at Worms. For
there was still one more diplomatic effort to make,
hardly of an easier, though of a much more modest
kind than the Hanau one. Since all Germany could
not be got to work unitedly against the French, it
remained to bind together as closely as possible such
anti-French powers as there were. Outside England,
which always furnished the necessary supplies, Maria
Theresa's chief ally was the King of Sardinia. While
Germany had been busy with Silesian wars, sieges of
Prag, battles of Dettingen, there had been much intri-
cate and heavy fighting on the south side of the Alps ;
France and Spain together doing all the hurt they could
to Austria in her Italian possessions. In this southern
business Maria Theresa's chief support was Charles

understand and appreciate Carteret ; a great distinction for Carteret. Car-
lyle regrets that on this matter of the Hanau Treaty Frederick tooli up such
a misconception of Carteret. Freda-ick, Book XIV. Chap. V. According to
the Marchmont Papers, however, Andrie, Prus.><ian Minister to England, was
convinced, by Carteret himself, how the truth really lay, and wrote to
Frederick accordingly. Morchmont Papers, I. 48.
1 Carlyle's Frederick, Book. XIV. Chap. V.

278 LORD CABTEBET

Emanuel, King of Sardinia ; but for him this alliance
was rapidly losing all its charm. The original agree-
ment between the two sovereigns was of a very vague
character, and left Charles Emanuel at full liberty to
side with the Bourbons if Austria failed to satisfy his re-
quirements. To get rid of this provisional state of things,
and definitely bind the King and the Queen together,
had been one of Carteret's earliest desires. In May
1742, three months after he had come into power, he
urged this policy on the Vienna Court. To Austrian
afi'airs in Italy the Sardinian King's friendship was
clearly indispensable ; while on the other hand Charles
Emanuel stood in danger of possible Bourbon resent-
ment, and was being tempted by actual Bourbon offers.
Carteret earnestly pressed Maria Theresa to secure him
at once by yielding him the moderate terms he re-
quired ; and promised that the English King would
cheerfully send a fleet to the Mediterranean, even alone,
if the Dutch refused to join. Robinson, however, found
it very hard work at Vienna. The Court was suspicious
of England, and angry that EngUsh fighting help was
so very slow in coming ; though what could George in
his then checkmated condition do ? Austria also was
just about to make her cession of Silesia to Frederick,
and gloomily asked if her next proceeding was to be a
cession to Sardinia. Better yield a trifle of Lombardy
than lose all you have in Italy, was Carteret's reply ;
and Maria Theresa reluctantly found herself compelled
to agree. Her promise was given, and Charles
Emanuel honestly and successfully fought for his ally ;
but was gradually worked into an irritated, threatening
condition as the time passed by, and there came no
sign that the promise was meant to be kept. Carteret
was very anxious; he feared that Sardinia, treated with

POWER 27!)

this shabby ingratitude, must yield to Bourbon temp-
tations. To Carteret's relief, Sardinia appealed to
George, and offered to leave the decision of the case
Avith England. If George refused, Charles Emanuel
Avould at once go over to France ; but he expressed full
confidence in Enghsh intervention. Carteret Avas much
relieved. ' I own,' he wrote from Hanover in the
weeks before the battle of Dettingen, ' I was very
anxious about it, from several intelhgences that I had ;
but I think this letter under his own hand, at this time,
and in so explicit a manner, may set us at rest if we
make a good use of it, which shall not be neglected.
And hereafter, when these things may become public,
several ingenious persons at home, who say our
measures have been mad, will see that one of the
prudentest and wisest Princes in Europe has not
thought so, and will risk his whole upon them.'^

' Which shall not be neglected,' wrote Carteret ; nor
did he neglect it. Austria, of course, was difficult to
manage ; the square mileage of Robinson's despatches
Avas largely increased by this business. But Austria, if
only in self-protection, had to agree ; and the Treaty
of Worms, signed on September 13, 1743, definitely
secured Sardinia to the right side. George luidertook
to keep a strong squadron in the Mediterranean as long
as it might be needed there, and to pay a large yearly
subsidy to Charles Emanuel; Maria Theresa unreservedly
promised him the small portions of territory which he
required ; and he, in return for all this, rejected all
Bourbon temptations and ranged his 15,000 men on the
side of Austria. Thus, if there should be another cam-
paign, Carteret had secured one important preparation
for it ; 45,000 men fighting /c)r instead of cujainst made

' Carteret to Newcastle; June 6, 1743. Add MSS. 22,536; fol. 50, 60.

280 LORD CABTEBET

a weighty difference of 90,000 men. With this Treaty
of Worms Newcastle and the Eegency at home did
not interfere. They approved of it and ratified it ;
for which complaisance Carteret was no doubt grimly
grateful to them.

The differences between Carteret and the Pelhams
on questions of foreign pohtics were not a cause but
only a symptom of the dissatisfaction which had from
the very first existed between the two sections of the
Cabinet. The want of cordiality between Walpole's
old colleagues and AValpole's old opponents became
mere jealous disgust on the part of Xewcastle, Pelham,
and Hardwicke, when they discovered that Carteret,
nominally Secretary of State, was practically himself
the Government. They were Carteret's colleagues ;
that did not hinder them from working and conspiring
against him. To weaken Carteret's influence, to get
rid of him altogether from the Government which he
led in spite of them, became the supreme object of tliese
very feeble political personages, who fancied that the
Government of England was Ijy nature their monopoly,
and that men of genius had nothing whatever to do
with it. A special incident about this time happened to
help them. A few days after the battle of Dettingen,
Wilmington, Prime Minister and prime mediocrity, had
died. Carteret hoped that Bath might succeed him ; the
Pelhams wished and hoped otherwise. Bath had de-
chned to make any application for the post before it was
actually vacant ; but Henry Pelham, urged on Ijy Orford,
showed no such dehcaey ; perhaps with excusable in-
ability to discover any difference between Wilmington
alive and Wilmington dead. Bath, too, applied when
Wilmington was no longer even a political cypher,
and his letter was sent to Carteret at Hanover. Each

POWER 281

applicant felt considerable difficulties in his way, and
neither could make sure of success. Bath -was unpopu-
lar with the King, unpopular everywhere. ' My Lady
Townshend said an admirable thing the other day,'
writes Horace Walpole. ' He [Bath] was' complaining
much of a pain in his side. " Oh ! " said she, " that can't
be ; you have no siJe ; " ' such the brilliancy of political
ladies. Pelham, on the other hand, knew that Carte-
ret's wish in this matter was against him, and began
to think it hopeless to struggle against Carteret's desire,
or perhaps even to be afraid of success gained in
such circumstances. The much robuster Orford had
to encourage his friend. If the King should after all
prefer Pelham, Carteret, wrote Orford, would never
l)reak with Pelham for that. 'But riianet nltd mentc
rcpostiun,' added the old minister, warningly ; remem-
bering what had been his own conduct in regard to all
political appointments, and thinking that Carteret in
that department was such another as himself. Ko
better proof of the contrary could have been desired
than Carteret's letter announcint;- that the Kino's choice
had fallen on Pelham. Carteret wrote from Mainz, to
which town the King and he had now got, on their road
homewards to England ; and after stating frankly that
he himself would have preferred the appointment of
Bath, and that he had placed that proposal before the
King, lie continued : —

' You see I state the affair very truly and naturally
to you, and what could anybody, in my circumstances,
do otherwise? If I had not stood by Lord Bath, who
can ever value my friendship P And you must have
despised me. However, as the affair is decided in your
favour by his majesty, I wish you joy of it ; and I will
endeavour to support you as much as I can, having

282 LORD CABTEBET

really a most cordial affection for your brother and you,
which nothing can dissolve but yourselves ; which I
don't apprehend will be the case. I have no jealousies
of either of you, and I believe that you love me ; but if
you will have jealousies of me without foundation, it
will disgust me to such a degree, that I shall not be
able to bear it ; and as I mean to cement a union with
you, I speak thus frankly. His majesty certainly makes
a very great figure, and the reputation of our country
is at the highest pitch ; and it would be a deplorable
fatality if disputes at home should spoil all the great
work.' ^

This was certainly a straightforward letter ; Xew-
castle himself, in a private note to Lord Chancellor
Hardwicke, confessed that it was a manly one. To
Newcastle also, on the same date, Carteret wrote a
kindly note, in reply to the fussy querulousness of the
Duke, who fancied himself neglected if every mail did
not bring from Carteret confidential letters as well as
ofiicial despatches. Carteret did his best to soothe him.
The business connected with the army and with the
negotiations had been great ; the King had been ill ;
Carteret himself had been ' so ill, that I thought I
should not be able to hold out.' The interesting part
of the letter is its close : —

' As to complaints upon want of concert, while the
King is on this side the water, and at the head of an
army, I don't look upon them as serious ; and therefore,
tliough my friends tell me so, I shall not force the
nature of things. But, as I have courage enough, God
be thanked, to risk, in a good cause, my natural hfe, I
am much less sohcitous about my poHtical life, which is
all my enemies can take from me ; and if they do, it

' Carteret to Pelham, Aug^ust 27, 1743. C'oxe's Pelham, 1. 8-!), 86.

POWER 283

will be the first instance in which they hurt me ; though
I must own that my friends have been near ruining me
at various times ; of which I shall take care for the
future, being past fifty-three.' ^

Pelham thus became nominal Prime Minister ; much
to the satisfaction of Orford and the angry disgust of
Bath. But Pelham at once found his position a very
difficult one. His main desire was to free himself from
Carteret ; and then, by reconstructing the Government,
to revert as far as possible to the old lines of Walpole's
policy. He had no intention whatever of accepting
Carteret's frank proposals for harmonious co-operation.
Consequently a struggle between Carteret and Pelham
was inevitable. ' If you offer any schemes without a
concert with him,' wrote Orford to Pelham, ' that will
be jealousy with a witness ; and that, he has told you,
he will not bear.' But that is just what the Pelhams
were resolved to do. Newcastle, never so much in his
element as when plotting against a colleague, was already
busily scheming with Orford how to drive Carteret fi'om
the Government. In the same letter in which he ac-
knowledges that Carteret had written to him in an
' open, friendly manner,' the Duke speculates what he
and his brother shall do with him when he returns.
Newcastle even drew up in writing a memorial against
Carteret and his policy, practically asking for his dis-
missal ; and it required Pelham's stronger sense and
caution to persuade his brother not to present this
paper to the King. For Pelham and Orford clearly
saw that Carteret's chief support was his great personal
and pohtical influence with the King ; any crude attempt
to injure him in that quarter would only be likely to
irritate George, and to do Carteret more good than

1 Coxe's Pelham, I. 87, 88.

284 LOBD CABTEBET

harm. To get rid of Carteret by personal complaints
to the King, and by argumentative expostulations on
the minister's influence or pohcy, seemed simply hope-
less. The slower but probably sure way of success
remained : by promises, intrigues, and plots, to weaken
their own colleague's position in parhament, and so
make his long continuance in power impracticable. To
gain over every discontented AVhig, and rally them all
against the man who was a truer AVhig than any of
them, was Orford's reiterated advice to Pelham. This,
backed by the anti-Hanoverian cursing and groaning of
the Tories and Jacobites, and by endless repetition of the
miserable falsehood that Carteret's foreign policy rested
on his desire to gain the King's personal favour, might
be expected to do what was wanted without very much
loss of time.

While these underground arrangements were busily
proceeding, Carteret was on his way home, taking the
Hague on his route, and coming to the conclusion that
Dutch abihty to give good help against the French was
not nearly so much wanting as Dutch will. On Xovember
26, 1743, George and the Duke of Cumberland arrived
in London, Carteret following them a day later ; and
mth the grand ball which in the next week took place
at St. James's in honour of the King's birthday (where
the Duke, fairly recovered from his Dettingen wound,
danced with much devotion, and indeed was reckoned
not to limp nearly so much as CoUey Cibber's birthday
verses), the new London pohtical season fairly began.
A most confused season it seemed likely to be. ' All is
distraction,' wrote Horace Walpole ; ' no union in the
Court, no certainty about the House of Commons : Lord
Carteret making no friends, the King making enemies :
Mr Pelham in vain courting Pitt, etc. ; Pulteney unre-

POWEB 285

solved. How will it eud ? ' It began with a Babel of
parliamentary abuse directed against Carteret. Jacob-
ites, Tories, discontented Whigs, hopelessly discordant
on almost every other matter, on this displayed an easy
unanimity. Chesterfield had the first opportunity. He
chose to represent the royal speech which on December 1
opened the session as particularly the speech of ' the
minister,' and as a sign of a disunited Cabinet ; an un-
fortunate charge, for the document was the composition
of Lord Chancellor Hardwicke.^ The main drift of
Chesterfield's speech, that England should leave Ger-
many absolutely alone and confine herself to her war
against Spain, was, as an abstract proposition, perfectly
reasonable ; as a contribution to the practical pohtics
of the day it was useless ; for England could only leave
Germany severely alone if France would do the same ;
which evidently France would not. Hanover, of course,
under veiled insinuations, was not forgotten by Chester-
field ; few political speeches of those days are free from
that most wearisome of topics. Hanover and abuse of
Carteret, that practically was Chesterfield's speech ;
though for formality's sake he insisted that the Lords
should inquire particularly into every step of the war
and the negotiations, ' the Green Bag itself upon your
table,' a parliamentary proceeding of frightful solemnity.
Carteret's reply was triumphant. ' Easy and animated,'
Walpole's panegyrist Coxe calls it ; Yorke notes that
Carteret ' spoke with great confidence and spirit, and
was reckoned to get the better of Lord Chesterfield.'
He had, indeed, an accomplished success to point to.

' Hardwicke's son, the Hon. Philip Yorke, expressly says so. Yorke,
who often attended the debates in the Lords, and was himself anM.P.,'
kept a MS. parliamentary journal from Dec. 174:"! to April 1745. It is printed
in ^'ol. XIII. of the Parliamentary History, and is, while it lasts, the heat
authority.

286 LOBB CAliTEBET

It was liis fixed policy to check tlie Frencli and their
designs on Germany, and there was not now a French
soldier in the Empire. As the first work of his ministry,
Maria Theresa had been reconciled with Frederick, and
that first great success had been followed up by the
actual co-operation of the Dutch with England, by the
decisive defeat of France in Germany, and by the suc-
cessful agreement between Austria and Sardinia. Con-
tinue vigorously what has so successfully been begun,
Avas the urgent drift of Carteret's speech ; while from
the personal point of view he would, he said himself, be
the very first to press for a minute inquiry into all that
had occurred. Ko second speaker ventured to carry
on the attack which Chesterfield had opened, and the
honours of the debate distinctly remained with Carteret.
The discussion on this same occasion in the House
of Commons was not limited to a parliamentary duel.
Pelham, the leader of the House, was not present; his
seat had been vacated by liis new official appointment,
and he had not yet been re-elected. But Dodington
and Lyttelton and Grenville were there to attack
Carteret ; Winnington, Fox, and Sandys to defend him ;
the two sides striving with each other to endless lengths
on the battle of Dettingen, the Treaty of "Worms, and
above all on Hanover. What Dodington or Sandys had
to say on these most exciting topics is now indifferent
to every one ; but Pitt also was there, and especially
concerned himself with Carteret. This occasion prac-
tically opened Pitt's period of violent invective against
Carteret ; a period which lasted till Pitt himself got into
office, when his tone changed. In his violent way Pitt
now styled Carteret ' an execrable, a sole minister, who
had renounced the British nation, and seemed to have
drunk of the potion descriljcd in poetic fictions, which

POWER 287

made men forget their country.' ^ Carteret did not fail
to find defenders against this excited rhetoric. ' His
integrity and love to his country,' said the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, ' were equal to his abilities, which
were acknowledged by the whole world.' Pitt's unpar-
liamentary violence could not pass without rebuke, but
he did not allow himself to be checked, and soon ex-
ceeded the abusiveness of this first outburst. It was all
in the game of party politics ; Pitt himself had not yet
held any responsible office ; his eloquence was impas-
sioned and reckless, and he himself was reckless and im-
passioned in the use of it. Pox always spoke to the
question, Pitt to the passions, said Horace Walpole.
Pitt's political career, from its commencement onwards
till the outbreak of the Seven Years' War, has nothing
specially noticeable about it, unless heated party spirit
and passionate eloquence are so ; though after that date
it was noteworthy as few others are. Till the year
1756 Pitt was a free lance, fighting for his own hand ;
and he never used his chartered liberty more extrava-
gantly than in the session which followed the battle of
Dettingen. What Yorke said of his conduct in one of
these debates does equally well for his tactics in them
all : ' Mr. Pitt spoke rather to raise the passions than
convince the judgments of his hearers, which he is too
apt to do, though in that way I never heard anybody
finer.' Pitt found his second opportunity wlien parlia-
ment debated if England should keep the Hanoverian
troops in its pay for the campaign of 1744. The oppo-
sition insisted that England should not, and repeated
various vague, unauthenticated rumours of disagree-
ments between the English and Hanoverian soldiers,
on the truth or falsehood of which the opposition and

' Yorke's Parliameutary ^IS.

288 LORD GABTEBET

the military members wrangled at great length. Officers
who had been in the camp and at the battle contradicted
the vague stories which had been so eagerly credited for
party reasons ; and tlie proposal to dismiss 22,000 men
in the middle of a war was too absurd to be successful.
But it served Pitt's turn well enough. ' His ]\Iaj esty,'
said he, ' yet stands on the firm ground of his people's
afiections, though on the brink of a precipice ; it is the
duty of parliament to snatch him from the gulf where
an infamous minister has placed him, and not throw
paltry flowers on the edge of it, to conceal the danger.
It may be a rough, but it is a friendly hand which is
stretched out to remove him.' To call Carteret an
' infamous minister ' Avas not sufficiently abusive for
Pitt ; he became so violent and personal that it was
necessary to call him to order. He continued his
charge- with but little abatement, and ended Ijy rhetori-
callv declaring that the ' great person ' (the parha-
mentary expression for the smaU person who was King)
was hemmed in by German officers and by one Enghsh
minister without an English heart.

The same question was brought before the House of
Lord; by Sandwich, whose speech had Pitt'; bitterness
without the ability. His motion ventured to assert
that faithful Englishmen 'at home, and the Enghsh
forces abroad, were fiUed with heart-burnings and
jealousies at the conduct and favoured treatment of
their Hanoverian allies. Saudwicli wearisomely reca-
pitulated the weU-worn charges : how a considerable
bodv of Hanoverian troops had refused to obey Stair's
orders during the battle ; how a Hanoverian officer had
refused to obey him after it ; and so on through all the
wearisome catalogue, every item of accusation being
absurdly untrue, with the exception of one smaU inci-

POWEB 289

dent which had resulted shnply from a misunderstand-
ing and had been explained entirely to Stair's satisfac-
tion. Carteret, not wishing to let the debate continue,
as it had begun, on a false issue, rose at once and
plainly declared that the stories and rumours which had
been repeated by Sandwich were false. In spite of this,
Chesterfield continued the tale which Sandwich had
begun, and lamented that the joy with which the army
had received its victory had been damped by the dis-
contents and jealousies which had followed it. Yorke
has unkindly but particularly preserved one of Chester-
field's sentences. ' My lords,' said he, speaking of the
English soldiers, ' the triumphal laurels yet green upon
their brows were soon overshadowed by the gloomy
cypress.' Chesterfield passed from these distressing
botanical details to dwell on what he reckoned mili-
tary defects during and after the battle ; a quite
fair subject for opposition attack, but not one which in
any way touched Carteret personally, who was not a
soldier, and had no responsibility for military arrange-
ments. Perhaps for that very reason, Carteret's reply,
which had mainly to concern itself with a defence of
the operations of the campaign, was not reckoned to be
one of his finest performances, but rhetorical rather and
exaggerated ; but when Carteret left the military side
for his own sure ground of statesmanship he was him-
self again. ' The finest stroke in his speech was his
appeal, not to the people of England who had reaped
the benefit of the King's Avise counsels and vigorous
measures, but to those who had received detriment
li'om them — France and Spain ; that thought he worked
up like an orator.' ^ But France and Spain would not
listen.

' Yorke's Parliameutary MS.

u

290 LOBD CABTEBET

These first two debates were closely followed by
many others which were little more than variations on
the same theme. Sandwich on one of these occasions
declared that he would bring this subject of Hanover
before the House of Lords in as many different shapes
as Proteus could assume ; and that is really what the
opposition did. It was in vain for the Government to
defeat its enemies and fancy the thing was ended ; the
discomfited opposition easily wriggled out of the Govern-
ment's grasp, and instantly appeared again in an irritat-
ing novelty of form. And the opposition could not, in
any of its Protean disguises, refrain from attacking
Carteret. When the House of Commons had decided
that the Hanoverian troops should be continued in
British pay, the faction of defeated discontent ventured
to demand that England should not continue the war
unless she was immediately joined by the Dutch. Pitt
was not very zealous to push opposition so far as this,
though he supported the proposal in a half-hearted
way ; but he was far from being half-hearted in the
language of his personal attack. He styled Carteret
a ' desperate rhodomontading minister,' and solemnly
asserted that for the last six montlis the little finger of
one man had lain more heavily upon the nation than
the loins of an administration which had existed for
twenty years. Bubb Dodington, whose name is syn-
onymous with political infamy, declared that Carteret
was endeavouring to make himself despotic with the
Xing, and the King despotic with the country. The
opposition was easily delivered to defeat and ridicule
over its senseless proposal to make EngUsh action
dependent on what it might please the Dutch to do ; but
stiU the infatuated attacks were continued. Pitt declined
to aid the more headlong spirits who wished, by refusing

POWEB 291

supplies for the British troops in Flanders, to make a
campaign in 1744 impossible ; but he amply made up
for this reticence by his violence against the renewed
English payment of the Hanoverian soldiers. The
opposition had made artful use of this unpopular pro-
posal, and knew that everything Hanoverian excited
passionate feeling in the country. Carteret had already
received a threatening letter from ' Wat Tyler,' to tell
him that three hundred men had sworn to tear him limb
from limb if he should propose to continue the Hano-
verian troops in British pay. With one exception, the
ministry wavered, frightened by the noisy outcry ; but
the exception was an important one, for it was Carteret
himself. All but Carteret despaired of success. The
others would have dropped the measure ; but that was
not Carteret's way. He received, too, effective aid from
one who for twenty years back had met him with nothing
but opposition. Orford, who had now little more than
a year to live, left his retreat at Houghton, and warmly
urged his friends in London to assist the Government on
tliis point. It was not from any love to Carteret ; but
rather from statesmanlike feehng and personal regard
for the King whom he had served so long. His help was
undoubtedly effective ; his son, Horace, in his exagger-
ating way, writes that but for Lord Orford the Hanover-
ian troops would have been lost. Horace himself spoke
in favour of the Government, and gained much approval
for his elegant eloquence. But the dainty phrases of this
amateur dabbler in politics were followed by work of a
much rougher kind. One member openly attacked the
King by name, and threw the House into such confusion
that it was compared to nothing better than a tumultu-
ous Polish Diet. Pitt spoke to the passions ; above all,
to the personal passions. He very adroitly flattered the

u 2

292 LOBD CABTEBET

Pelhams, whom it pleased him to call the ' amiable '
part of the administration ; against the odious part he
exhausted abusive invective. Carteret was the ' Hano-
ver troop minister, a flagitious task-master '; the 16,000
Hanoverian soldiers were his placemen and the only-
party he had. Pitt wished that Carteret sat in the
House of Commons, that he might give him more of
his angry eloquence. ' But I have done ; if he were
present, I would say ten times more.'^ On the second
day of the debate, Pitt abandoned the vocabulary of
insult for a picturesque despair ; and said, as if he really
believed it, that to pay the Hanoverian soldiers would
be to erect a triumphal arch to Hanover over the mili-
tary honour and independence of Great Britain. But
common-sense got the better of party passion. To dis-
miss 22,000 men without knowing how to replace them
was too absurd ; to have refused from Hanover a benefit
which would ha^'e been gladly accepted from any other
quarter would have been the triumph of pettish sense-
lessness. The Government majority was large ; yet
Proteus only took another shape.

But in the midst of all this angry rhetoric, there
came an alarm which for the moment quieted party
faction. "While Chesterfield was sneeringly lamenting
that the Crown of three Kingdoms was shrivelled
beneath an Electoral cap, and, in his exquisitely refined
way, was declaring that Carteret, by laying the Treaty
of Worms before parliament, had at last ' voided his
worms ' ; - while Pitt was violently perorating on the
minister's ' audacious hand,' and dimly hinting at an
impeachment ; and wjiile Carteret, fearlessly defending

1 PI. Walpole to Mann, Jan. 24, 1744.

^ This is in Yorke's .Ji,tirnal ■ but the Parliamentary History ii too polite
to publish it. It i=ia Aid. MSS. Ii.lO^ ; fol. ijiJ, v°.

POWEB 293

his own policy, was asserting that discontents had been
roused by wicked and groundless misrepresentations,
news came to London that France and the Young Pre-
tender together Avere about to attempt a descent on the
English coast.

Not very much in the military way had been done
after the battle of Dettingen. Louis XV., his enter-
prises having so thoroughly failed, withdrew his troops
from Germany, and in little more than a month after
the battle was applying to the Diet at Frankfort for a
restoration of peace. The Queen of Hungary's response
was very high and scornful. Compensation for her lost
Silesia was with her a fixed idea ; why should not the
compensation come from France, if it Avere impossible
to get it from other quarters ? While George was rest-
ing at Hanau, and Carteret was planning treaties for
Newcastle to ruin, the King and the minister were
visited by Maria's brother-in-law Prince Charles and
the Austrian General Khevenhiiller, full of schemes and
proposals for following up the victory and invading
France itself. In August 1743 it was rumoured every-
where in London that at a grand Hanau entertainment, at
which Prince Charles was present, Carteret had proposed
as a toast, Dunlirl\ Lorraine, and Al-^ace. But nothing
came of all these hopes and plans, that year. The
English army went into winter quarters in the Nether-
lands ; and though Prince Charles tried in various
places to make his way across the frontier into Alsace,
he never could. He too went home in October 1743,
and nothing remained settled but that the fighting
must begin again next season.

France, seeing the haughty way in which her pro-
posals had been rejected, quite gave up the peace view,
and made great preparations for the new campaign.

294 LOEL CABTERET

The French plans seemed especially to threaten the
frontier towards the Netherlands ; and Carteret, who
had lost no courage under the unscrupulous attacks of
political enemies, remained true to his undeviating line
of foreign policy. On December 30 he wrote to the
English minister at the Hague : —

' The first plan of France was, under pretence of
sustaining the Elector of Bavaria, to ruin the House of
Austria. To come at that, they were willing to forfeit
their faith and reputation. They have received a check
in that design, have squandered immense sums ineffectu-
ally, and lost whole armies in the prosecution of it.
These disappointments tliey impute to his majesty and
the States, and there is no doubt but they meditate the
seT.ere:<t revenge, and will not fail to take it, if we have
not, under the blessing of God, recourse to the forces
He has given us for our security, and for reducing that
ambitious power within its true bounds.'

Carteret therefore urged Holland, for its own sake,
to put an end to parsimony and pusillanimity, and to
join heartily with England in a determination to convince
France ' that we are not to be terrified into any base
submission to her will, but that, as our only object is a
fair and honourable peace, we are not afraid of con-
tending for it by a just and vigorous war.'

So far, neither France nor England had been a
principal in this war. England was only the ally of
Austria ; France, the ally of Bavaria. But the whole
tendency of things had nece-sarily been drawing the
two powers into direct personal antagonism ; and the
action of France in the first weeks of 1744 was the
prelude to the open declaration of war. In January,
Creorge was informed that the Old Pretender's son had
left Eorae for Paris, under pretence of sharing in a

POWEB 295

hunting-party. It was known that France had been
equipping a fleet at Brest ; it was rumoured that tlie
Young Pretender was about to join it. The excitement
in London was considerable ; the ministry met frequently ;
officers everywhere were ordered to their posts. In
February the Brest squadron sailed ; some twenty men-
of-war, followed soon by four others. They entered the
Channel on February 14, and reached Dungeness early
in March, anchoring there while Comte de Saxe Avas
busily putting 15,000 men on board transports at Dun-
kirk. Timid persons feared the French might quickly
push up the river as the Dutch had done in 1667, and
march direct on London. But Admiral Norris, Avith a
larger fleet than the French one, sailed round the South
Foreland to meet them. On March 5 Norris, off Folke-
stone, was in sight of the enemy at Dungeness ; the
Kentish cliffs were crowded with gazing watchers eager
to see the engagement. Fortunately or otherwise, they
were disappointed. That same evening a storm began,
raging all through the night ; and the planned invasion
Avas ruined without any fighting whatever. The French
fleet was driven from its Dungeness anchorage, leaving
anchors and cables behind it ; Saxe's transports never
ventured out of Dunkirk roads.

Declaration of war by France against England soon
followed this abortive attempt ; the French manifesto
being characterised by Carteret as ' an insolent and im-
pudent production, which contains, with regard to the
views and conduct of France, a barefaced mockery and
imposition upon the common-sense of mankind, and, with
regard to those of his majesty, is full of misrepresenta-
tions and falsehoods.' England replied with a counter-
declaration. Stair, forgetting old grievances, had al-
ready left his 'plough,' and, Avith much royal apprecia-

296 LORD CARTERET

tion of his loyalty, had become Commander of the troops
at home. The English army in Flanders was recruited ;
the Dutch troops, due by treaty to England in case
of an invasion, began to arrive in the river. George
sacrificed his usual visit to Hanover ; the parliament
did what Avas necessary in the way of supplies ; and Car-
teret, who was suffering from the universal malady of
eighteenth-century statesmen, had lost nothing of his
cheerfulness through illness. ' I have neither speech
nor motion,' he wrote to Lord Chancellor Hardwicke
on the day after the English declaration of war, 'leaving
what I had with Lord Bath. My gout is not gone off,
but I am in good spirits.' ^

' I am in good spirits.' This was only another way
of saying : ' I am Lord Carteret.' But Carteret's good
spirits did not rest upon a false feehng of security, or
upon any ignorance of the circumstances which were
personally threatening him Carteret knew perfectly
well that his position as a minister was at this time pre-
carious. The imperfect cohesion of the mixed Govern-
ment which had succeeded AValpole's had been a cause
of difficulty and weakness from the very first ; in 1744
the spht had become too wide to be bridged over.
AYhile England and France were declaring war against
each other, the members of the English Cabinet were
declaring war among themselves. Newcastle, one of
whose detestable pecuharities was to treat all political
differences from the personal point of view (declining
private intercourse even with his brother when they
were not wholly agreed on political action), could not at
this time meet Carteret at dinner. The Duke D'Ahrem-
berg was in London in ]\Iarc]i ; but Carteret could not
go to the entertainments which the Pelhams gave him.

1 Han-is' Hardidcke, II. 05. April 12, 1744.

POWEB 297

It was impossible to be blind to the real meaning of all
this. Government on such conditions could not last.
Carteret, who had a way of putting his meaning into
words too plain to be mistaken, told the brothers that
they might take the Government themselves if they
pleased ; but that if they either could not or would not,
he himself would take it. ' There is anarchy,' he said
to them, ' in Holland, and anarchy at home. The first
may be removed by a Stadt-holder ; but to remove the
latter things must be brought to an immediate decision.'
A letter from Newcastle to Hardwicke shows how
plainly Carteret spoke, and how irreconcilable the
difference was : —

' I had a very extraordinary conversation with my
Lord Carteret, going with him yesterday to Kensington ;
which, with the late incidents that have passed between
us, produced a more extraordinary declaration from
him to my brother and me last night. He said, that if
my Lord Harrington had not been gone, he intended to
have spoke very fully to us ; that he would do it when
your Lordship, Lord Harrington, and we should be
together ; that things could not remain as they were ;
that they must be brought to some precision ; he would
not be brought down to be overruled and outvoted
upon every point by four to one ; if we would take the
Government upon us, we might ; but if we could not or
would not undertake it, there must be some direction,
and he would do it. Much was said upon what had
passed last year, upon the probability of the King's going
abroad, etc. Everything passed coolly and civilly, but
pretty resolutely, upon both sides. At last he seemed
to return to his usual profession and submission.

' Upon this, my brother and I thought it absolutely
necessary that we should immediately determine

298 LOBD CABTERET

amongst ourselves what party to take ; and he has
therefore desired me to see your Lordship, and talk it
over with you in the course of this day. We both look
upon it, that either my Lord Carteret will go out (which
I hardly think is his scheme, or at least his inclination),
or that he wUl be uncontrollable master. My brother
supposes that, in that case, he means that we should go
out. I rather think he may still flatter himself that
(after having had this offer made to us, and our having
dechned to take the Government upon ourselves) we
shall be contented to act a subordinate part. Upon the
whole, I think the event must be, that we must either
take upon us the Government, or go out.' ^

Xot to ' go out,' if in any way he could possibly
stay in, was the one principle to which Newcastle was
constant throughout his long parhamentary career.
Prom this point, therefore, his vague jealousy and dis-
like of Carteret changed into a firm determination to
get rid of him. Xewcastle's letters to Hardwicke,
without whom he could do nothing but bribe and be
ridiculous, are fuU of it. It was his element ; he could
feel that he was in reality engaged in poHtics when he
was intriguing against a colleague. He had intrigued
against Walpole ; he had attempted to intrigue with
Pulteney ; he was now intriguing against Carteret ; in
the coming years he was to intrigue against Pitt and
Fos. Craggs once said that a Secretary of State might
be honest for a fortnight, but could not possibly con-
tinue such conduct for a month. Newcastle never tried
it even for the fortnight.

The plot against Carteret was to succeed, but only
after long and difficult operations. The outbreak of
the war with France was itself slightly in Carteret's

1 June 6, 1744.

POWEB 21)9

favour. There were onlookers who reckoned that his
knowledge of foreign affairs would make his continuance
in power necessary, and that the Pelhams would have
to yield to his superiority. His position was strength-
ened by the failure of the French invasion, and by the
expectation of a successful campaign. But this expec-
tation went all to ruin. It liad been first intended that
the King Mmself should go to Flanders ; but Newcastle
and his party declared that if that were so they would
all resign, and the plan had to be abandoned.^ The
English commander was therefore Marshal Wade ; with
him was the Austrian D'Ahremberg ; both of them ter-
ribly incompetent persons, especially when a Marshal
Saxe was opposed to them. Whilst Wade looked on, his
army doing literally nothing, Louis the Well-beloved and
his generals Avere proceeding much as they pleased in
the Netherlands, town after town yielding easily to their
success. The only check which somewhat interrupted
the victorious progress of France came from quite a
different quarter. Prince Charles, Maria Theresa's
brother-in-law, had been unable last year to invade
France after Dettingen ; but in this new campaign he
was trying it again, and on the last day of June 1744
actually succeeded in crossing the Ehine into Alsace.
Louis at once ended his ornamental patronage of his
army in Flanders ; left to Saxe the easy task of looking
after Wade ; and himself hastened to Metz, to terrify
adoring France by his illness there, and to adopt the
religious view till his recovery was complete. Could
not old Wade in this altered state of things now do
something ? There were difficulties ; he and D'Ahrem-
berg were not on the best of terms ; the Dutch were
as usual demonstrating their indisputable pre-eminence
> Historical MSS. Commission ; Report III. 278.

300 LOBD CABTEBET

in phlegmatic sluggishness ; the French were perhaps
somewhat superior in numbers. But Wade himself was
probably the chief difficulty of all. He was suspected
of leaning to the Pelham side of the administration, and
of showing no great anxiety to carry out the instruc-
tions which he received from Carteret ; while in military
matters he was quite incompetent. ' He is old and
quite broke,' wrote the Earl of Bentinck from the
Hague ; ' so that when he has been four hours a-horse-
back, he wants two days to recover the fatigue.' ^ Wade
might have been a match for Sir John Cope ; opposed
to Saxe he was merely a comic figure. He did, indeed,
with his Austrian and Dutch alhes, continue to hold
war councils that came to no decision, and to make
confused military movements that resulted in no action ;
more than that he did not do. When the campaign
closed, the English and their allies had done absolutely
nothing ; they had simply stood by to see the French
win. ' The ever-memorable campaign of 1744 is now
closed in Flanders,' wrote Trevor from the Hague in
October. ' What posterity or the parliament will say
of it, the Lord knows.'

Thus the expectation that Carteret's position at
home would be strengthened by a successful campaign
abroad was completely falsified. The only thing worth
calhng a success in the whole continental struggle was
the defeat of Frederick of Prussia's first expedition in
the second Silesian war ; and in that success England
had no share. Frederick, clearly seeing that in Maria's
haughty humour he was by no means yet secure in his
hold on Silesia, had again alUed himself with France,
and in August, greatly to the disturbance of the English
King, had struck into the quarrel once more. ' I wish
1 Brit. Mus. Pg^rton MSS. 1,713; fol. Gl t».

POWEB 301

he was Cham of Tartary ! ' said passionate little George
once to Chesterfield of his incomprehensible cousin.
This sudden diversion compelled Prince Charles to with-
draw from Alsace, and Frederick, beginning brilliantly,
took Prag ; but there all his success ended. The Aus-
trians, trusting to weather and famine to do their
business, would not figlit him ; and Frederick, baffled,
could do nothing but retreat to Silesia, while his garrison
withdrew from the one place that he had captured.
This, a success for the cause which England was sup-
porting, was not a success of which England in any
direct way could adopt the credit ; and, even if it had
been so, it would have come too late to affect appreci-
ably the course of ministerial dissensions in London.
The date of Carteret's fall was coincident with that
of Frederick's faihu'e.

By the summer months of 1744 it had become clear
that the Government as it stood could not expect to
meet the new session of parliament. There was now
hardly even the pretence of union between the new
and the old elements in tlie ministry which Carteret
directed. The political intriguing of the Pelhams had
easily reinforced itself by the deliberate employment of
unbounded public misrepresentation. Everything that
had failed at home or abroad was laid to the charge of
Carteret. It was Carteret's fault that Prussia had once
more struck into the war ; Cartei-et's fault that Wade
was old and imbecile, and the Dutch the heaviest and
slowest mortals in Europe. The old falsehoods Avere
eagerly brought out once again, and Carteret was
accused of grasping at despotism, and of prolongim;; the
war for the ends of his own selfish ambition. Carteret,
on his side, imprudently perhaps but very naturally,
did not care to conceal his contempt for Newcastle,

302 LORD CARTEBET

and made no mock professions of confidence in other
colleagues who were almost ostentatiously conspiring
against him. Carteret knew that the Pelhamswere toiling
and plotting to remove him ; but he was not disheartened,
and not at all inclined to yield without a struggle. He
had the King strongly on his side ; and this more than
anything vexed the souls of his rivals ; for never had
George's disgust with them been so angrily evident as
now. The King did not attempt to conceal it ; his per-
sonal friend, Lord Waldegrave, says that his countenance
could not dissemble. Newcastle bitterly compjlains of
the King's manner, looks, and harsh expressions ; it
added to the Duke's anguish that he received this treat-
ment in the presence of Carteret himself. He tells his
brother that they and their friends must compel the
King to choose between Carteret and themselves, or
Newcastle must despairingly resign. ' K nothing of the
kind can be agreed upon, I must, and am determined to
let the King know, that my having had the misfortune
to differ in some points from Lord Carteret had, I found,
made me so disagreeable to his majesty, that, out of
duty to him and regard to myself, I must desire his
leave to resign his employment ; for, indeed, no man can
bear long what I go through every day, in our joint
audiences in the closet.'^

Pelham was not much happier. He replies to his
brother next day : ' I was at Court to-day, and designed
to have gone in to the King, after the drawing-room was
over ; but as Lord Carteret Avent in, and as I saw
nothing particular in his majesty's countenance to make
me over-forward, I chose to put it off till to-morrow.'
' To-morrow ' was doubtless just as unpleasant as ' to-
day' could have been. Disagreeable incidents, as

' Xeivcaitle to Pelham ; August i'o, 1744.

POWEB 303

Newcastle mildly termed them, occurred daily ; much
to the intriguer's distress, who was alarmed at the
King's contemptuous indifference. George was simply
slighting him ; and it was dangerous to let the King
adopt the notion that from the Pelhams there was
nothing to be hoped and nothing to be feared. The
brothers, therefore, having failed so far in all their
attempts, now turned to more decisive measures. They
appealed to the leading Whigs in opposition, to Pitt,
Chesterfield, Lyttelton, and the others, to join them ;
and these, after very slight delay, unreservedly agreed.
Then the final step was taken. Hardwicke, at JSTew-
castle's request, drew up a long Memorial, denouncing
Carteret's conduct and policy. The Pelham party
resolved to present this document to the King, and to
give him the option between Carteret's dismissal and
their own resignations.

On November 1, 1744, Newcastle handed the
Memorial to the King. In Httle more than an hour
George returned it to Newcastle House. He Avas not
disposed to yield. On November 3, Carteret and New-
castle were with the King together, and Carteret after
the audience was for five minutes alone with George.
Newcastle concluded that in this private interview the
King told Carteret of the Pelhams' accusations and
demands, ' probably with assurances of his support, and
recommending management and some compliance to
Lord Granville.^ I conclude this day the scheme of
conduct will be settled between the King and Lord
Granville, which will, I believe, be what I always fore-
saw : a seeming acquiescence, depending upon Lord

' Bv the death nf his mother, Carteret became Earl Granville on
October 18, 1744. Till the close of this chapter, it will be more convenient
to continue to speak of him as Lord Carteret.

304 LOBB CABTEBET

Granville's savoir to defeat it afterwards, and draw us
on. This is what I most dread ; and I own I think
nothing will prevent it but a concert entame, in a proper
manner, directly with Lord Chesterfield.' ^ Pelham and
Hardwicke asked audiences to enforce their written
arguments, but were received with unconcealed ill-
humour. To Hardwicke the King expressed his great
regard for Carteret, and declared : ' You would persuade
me to abandon my allies ; that shall never be the
obloquy of my reign, as it Avas of Queen Anne's ; I wiU
suffer any extremities rather than consent.' George
was no more inchned to abandon his minister than to
abandon his aUies. Carteret had served him well ;
ingratitude was not among the King's many faults and
faiUngs. Both he and the Prince of Wales made every
effort to spoil the Pelhams' plot. The Prince Lad
already tried to mediate between the rival ministers ;
but that was plainly hopeless. He then attempted to
gala over to Carteret's side the leading Whigs in oppo-
sition. Here again he failed, for the Pelhams had been
before him. Yet Carteret still continued minister ; and
Xewcastle, slipping away from the bold words of the
^Memorial, became once more all timid anxiety. He
began to speculate. ^Slight not Carteret still remain
in the Government, but in a less commanding position ?
Without a glimpse of msight into his colleague's cha-
racter, Newcastle was inchning to fear that Carteret, if
dismissed, would throw himself into violent opposition ;
and with equal obtuseness he suggested that Carteret
might be induced to remain in the ministry if he were
made Lord President, and liad the offer of the Garter.
But in tljat case, wliat would tlie AValpole section say ?
and without thera Newcastle had sadly to confess that

' Newcastle to Hardwicke ; Nov. 3, 1744.

POWER 805

lie and bis personal friends could not carry on the
(rovernment even if it were put into their hands.

It was to the head of the Walpole party that the
King, as a last resource, turned. He summoned Orford
from Houghton to London. Orford, reluctantly obey-
ing, arrived only a few days before parliament was to
meet, and very unwillingly gave his opinion. It was
not in favour of Carteret. Shortly after Carteret's
Government liad been formed, Orford, referring to a
coach accident at Eichmond which had been amusing
the political world, said to Carteret in the hearing of
the King and Newcastle : ' My Lord, whenever the Duke
is near overturning you, you have nothing to do but to
send to me, and I will save you.' The promise was
very badly kept, though Carteret doubtless felt little
surprise at that. Carteret now could do no more.
Parliamentary influence and envious personal passions
were united against him, and the King, Avith great
reluctance and ill-humour, agreed that he should resign.
On November 24 the Pelhams triumphed, and Cartei'et
ceased to be Secretary of State.

' AVlio would not laugh at a world where so ridicu-
lous a creature as the Duke of Newcastle can overturn
ministries ! ' Horace Walpole may laugh ; serious on-
lookers are likely to consider contemptuous disgust the
more appropriate feeling. The history of the rise and
fall of ministers ought to be the favourite reading of
the cynical ; and their favourite episode ought to be
the triumph of Newcastle over Carteret. Corruption,
treachery, and imbecility triumphed over patriotism
and genius. The thing was so false and shameless that
it lias extorted angry protests from observers who are
in no danger of being styled sentimentalists. ' It is
dillicult to see him [Cartcj-et] made the victim of so

X

306 LOBD CABTEBET

contemptible an intrigue, without feeling some m.otions
of sympathy and indignation.' '^ The fawning falseness
of the Duke of Newcastle is the fitting centre of one of
the most disgraceful episodes in the history of political
intrigue.

' "^.Villiam Godwin's Life of Pitt, 34, 35.

807

CHAPTER VIII.

GRANVILLE AXD THE PELHAMS.
1744-1754.

Rather more than a month before his fall, Lord Carteret
had become Earl Granville. His mother, Countess of
Granville in her own right, died on October 18, 1744 ;
her son succeeded her in the title.

When the session opened on November 27, the par-
liamentary scene was very chaotic. So difficult had been
the Pelhams' task, that Granville had been removed only
three days before, and in that short interval the brothers
had already discovered that the fall of their rival was
by no means the end of their troubles and dangers.
' The King,' Horace Walpole reported to his Florence
friend, 'has declared that my Lord Granville has his
opinion and affection ; the Prince warmly and openly
espouses him. Judge how agreeably the two brothers
will enjoy their ministry ! To-morrow the parliament
meets : all is suspense ! Everybody will be staring at
each other ! ' A first difficulty embarrassed the Pelhams
when they attempted to satisfy the heterogeneous mass
of politicians who had helped them to get rid of Gran-
\ille. The discontented Whigs, represented by Chester-
field, had joined in the intrigue ; and Pitt, whose early
political career is not at all edifying, had concurred.
Tories also had been of the number, and all looked for

X 2

308 LORD CABTEBET

tlieir reward. With a kind of timid hopefulness the
brothers therefore thought to strengthen themselves
against Granville, of whom they still stood in great
fear, by forming a mixed Government chosen from each
of the pohtical parties ; a Government which the cant
])hrase of the day denominated Broad Bottom. The
arrangement was not altogether easy. The Whigs
grumbled that there should be any Tories at all ; the
Tories grumbled that they themselves were so few.
But a second difficulty hampered the negotiations still
more. The King was full of passionate resentment at
the way in which the Pelhams and their friends had
treated him ; and he was especially angry with New-
castle, whom he truly enough styled a jealous puppy,
unfit to be leading minister. He showed his irritated
annoyance by violent opposition to many of the intended
changes. When Chesterfield was proposed to him as
Lord-Lieutenant of L-eland, the King burst out, ' He
sliall have nothing. I command you to trouble me no
more with such nonsense. • Although I have been forced
to part with those I hked, I "n-LU never be induced to
take those who are disagreeable to me.' EoyaUy angry
as he was, George in this instance had to yield, and
Chesterfield, commissioned with an embassy to the Hague
before going to Dublin, received a parting audience of
less than one minute. But as for Pitt, who had ex-
celled all in the unrestrained bitterness of party violence,
the King dechned altogether ; and Pitt's claim for the
]jresent was not puslied. .'^<j troublesome were tbe-e
various dis])utes and difTereiices that it was close upon
Christmas Ijefore the ministerial changt;s were completed.
Henry Pelliam was Prime ^linister ; Xewcastle, probably
still believing that Hanover was in Scotland, became on
this or-ca'<i()ii Secretary for the .Suutli. wliere tliere was

GRANVILLE AND TEE PELHAMS 309

a fresh geographical fiekl to conquer. Harrington took
the Northern dej^artment, as it was desirable that at
least one of the Foreign Secretaries should know some-
thing about foreign affairs. Hardwicke remained Lord
Chancellor ; Chesterfield went to Ireland ; other places
were filled by Bedford, Grafton, Gower, and Henry
Fox.

The Duke of Newcastle, who liad thus had his wa}'
and set himself with appalling self-satisfaction to the
considerable task of governing England, is the most curi-
ouslj' ridiculous being who ever took a leading part in
English political affairs. Merely to set eyes upon the man,
to hear him talk, to see him move, gave one an irresistible
sense of the ridiculous. He never walked, but shuflled
along with a hasty trot, in a constantly confused and
bustling hurry. His talk was a bubbling stammer which
added the most ludicrous emphasis to the chaotic medley
of his private conversation. His public speaking Avas
equally absurd. He could not reason ; he rambled in-
conclusively through all the intricacies of his subject,
perpetually contradicting himself, yet quite unconscious
of his own imbecility. Hervey says that those for whom
he spoke generally wished that he had been silent, and
those who listened wished so always. The fussy, untidy
hurry that marked his talk was equally conspicuous in
his way of doing business. Tlie town said of him that
he lost half an hour every morning, and ran about all
the rest of tlie day unsuccessfull)" trying to overtake it.
He was full of agitated eagerness to plunge into j^olitical
business of all kinds, and when he had got it he did
not know how to do it. Meddling with everything, he
fretted and tormented liimself about everything. His
jealous imagination perpetually fancied and brooded
over slights which had absolutely no existence, and then

310 LOBD CABTEBET

he became peevish and miserable and quarrelsome. As
suddenly he would be all emotional and maudlin friend-
liness again, and flatter while he feared. In a letter of
his own in which he rather curiously says, ' I am not
vain of my abihties,' he remarks of himself: 'My temper
is such that I am often uneasy and peevish, and perhaps
what may be called wrong-headed, to my best friends,
but that always goes down with the sun, and passes off
as if nothing had happened.' ^ It is true he was not
naturally a bad-tempered man, and he profusely prac-
tised the easy virtue of being abundantly good-natured
whenever he had his own way.

Newcastle's foolishness was only equalled by his
falseness. It was part of the fidgety hurry of his
character that with flurried effusiveness he scattered
promises right and left ; and he never kept any of them.
But more serious than the falseness of hastily stuttered
assurances \v&s his persistent and invincible treachery'
to Lis own political colleagues. His word, spoken or
written, could never be believed. Walpole said that his
name was Perfidy, and Pitt plainly called him ' a very
great liar.' His life was one long intrigue ; and false-
ness to every one who met him on the political road was
the sole principle to which he was unswervingly con-
sistent. The history of his political treachery is the
story of his poUtical hfe. His boldness in underhand
intrigue was in singular contrast with his exces-ivo
political and personal timidity. The Duchess of Yar-
mouth once told him that he had been brought up in
the fear of God and of his brother. When Chesterfield
introduced his bill for the amendment of the Calendar,
Newcastle was much alarmed at such daring- reform.
He did not like new-fangled things, he said, and im-
' Riit. Mus. Add. MSS. fi.l75: fol. 77-70. Oct. 14, 1730.

GRANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 311

plored Chesterfield to leave it alone. He was afraid to
sleep in a bedroom by himself, and would rather have a
footman lying on a pallet beside him than be sohtary
for the night. He looked ready to drop with fear on
his first interview with George 11. ; for he had once
offended the Prince of Wales, who now was King ; the
passionate little Prince had fiercely trodden on his toe
and had roared, ' You rascal, I will find you ! ' The
town, to whom the ludicrous Duke was a perpetual fund
of amusement, declared that while the rebels were
marching south in 1745, Newcastle tremblingly shut
himself up in his room for a whole day, reflecting
whether he had not better declare for the Pretender.
He was never out of England till he was about sixty,
and then was much distressed at the thought of the
Channel crossing. Once when attending the King to
Hanover he would only venture over in a yacht that
liad recently weathered a heavy storm. But his timidity
took its most amusing form in his apprehensive anxiety
for his health. Even those who flattered him made a
jest of his frightened precautions and his troops of
physicians and apothecaries. A guest at Claremont
once felt somewhat unwell after eating a few mush-
rooms. Newcastle immediately ordered that all the
mushroom-beds at Claremont should be destroyed. He
passed his life in the constant fear of catching cold.
Often in tlie heat of summer, says Waldegrave, ' the
debates in the House of Lords would stand stiU, till
some window were shut, in consequence of the Duke's
orders. The peers would all be melting in sweat, that
the Duke might not catch cold.' He coddled himself
everywhere and in everything. When he had con-
quered his fear of the Channel so far as to attend the
King to Hanover, he pestered those who were to be his

312 LOBD CABTEliET

hr)sts on the route with the most elaborate directions
for his domestic security. While he was Secretary of
State and leader of the Government in the House of
Linxls, he found time to write in his own hand letters of
most minute instruction on this absorbing topic. The
curious can still consult his manuscripts. He bids the
English minister at the Hague taste wines for him ; buy
a carriage for him, and be sure that the seats are
quilted ; actually sends him patterns of cloth for the
lining, and implores him to look anxiously to the linch-
pins and have plenty of spare tackle lest anything should
break. He does not leave all this to servants or secre-
taries, or to the female portion of his household, but
does it all at vast length with his own ministerial hand.
Above all he never forgets the airing of the beds. ' I
beg that they may be lain in every night for a month,'
he writes once when announcing an approaching visit
to the Hague. ' Pray let the beds be laid {sic) in from
tlie time you receive this letter,' he says on another
occasion. To get his feet wet, or even cold, was mar-
tyrdom to him. In the Abbey, at the funeral of George
n., the Duke of Cumberland suddenly felt himself
weighed down from behind. It Avas Xewcastle, who
had stepped upon his train to avoid the chilhness of the
marble floor. Horace Walpole saw Xewcastle, then
actually Prime Minister himself, at a ball in 1750, and
Avroto to Montagu : —

' He went into the liazard-room, and wriggled, and
shuffled, and lisped, and winked, and spied. . . Xol:iodv
Avent near him ; he tried to flatter people that were too
busy to mind him ; in short, he was quite disconcerted ;
his treacliery u.'^ed to be so slieathed in folly that he
was never out of countenance ; but it is plain he grows
old. To finish his confu'^ion and anxiety, George Selwvu,

GBANVILLE AND TEE FELHA3IS 813

Brand, and I went and stood near him, and in half whis-
pers, that he might hear, said, " Lord ! how he is broke !
liow old he looks! " Then I said, "This room feels very
cold : I believe there never is a fire in it." Presently
afterwards I said, " Well, I'll not stay here ; this room has
been washed to-day." In short, I believe Ave made him
take a double dose of Gascoigne's powder when he
went home.'

The dreary tract of history presided over by this
ridiculous yet cunningly treacherous being did not open
very brilliantly for the new ministry. The King made
no attempt to conceal his displeasure, and treated his
advisers very badly. In little more than a month after
Granville's fall, Newcastle was speculating on the prob-
able date of his own dismissal ; and Hardwicke, when in
an audience he begged the King for support and confi-
dence, could not for some time obtain a word in reply.
The royal favour was reserved entirely for Granville
and his friends. And public affairs did not go well. It
was professedly on account of his foreign policy tliat
tlie Pelhams had conspired against G]-anville ; j^et the
first act of the reconstituted ministry declared tliat
there would be no alteration in foreign measures. Tlie
cry was soon raised that though ministers had turned
Granville out they were simplj' continuing Granville's
policy ; and Newcastle recognised the truth and tlie
danger of the accusation when he wrote to his brother :
' We must not, because we see)n to be in, forget all we
said to keep Lord Granville out.' When on February 5,
174-3, the Government proposed that the Enghsh troops
in Flanders should be continued during that year, their
adversaries declared that tliis Avas merely an old measure
from a new ministry ; but Pelham found an entliusiastic
supporter in Pitt. He was very ill ; came down to the

«14 LORD CARTEBET

House with the mien and apparatus of an invalid ; ^
some even thought he could not live long, and in his
speech he spoke of himself as a dying man But he
used abundant gesture and rhetoric, and his eloquence
bore down all opposition. He professed to beheve that
the whole question in 1745 differed from the question as
it stood the year before; for Granville had fallen, and all
romantic attempts to assist Austria in the recovery of what
Pitt called the avulsa inemhra Imperii had fallen mth
him. In other words, Pitt in his rhetorical way accused
Granville of having directed his foreign policy towards
the recovery of Silesia for Maria Theresa; a ridiculously
untrue accusation a2:ainst the chief agent in obtainin;^
the Treaty of Breslau. ' The object now is,' saidPitt, ' to
enable ourselves, by a close connection with Holland,
to hold out equitable terms of peace both to friends
and foes, without prosecuting the war a moment longer
than is necessary to acquire a valid security for our own
rights and those of our allies, as established by public
treaties.' AVhat else at any time had been Granville's
object ? But the necessities of party politics are stern.
Pitt did not fail to flavour his compliments to Pelham
with invective of the usual style against Granville. The
policy sanctioned Ijy the ' rash hand of a daring minister '
was reproachfully contrasted with the moderate and
heahng measures of the new patriotic administration.
A brightening dawn of national salvation had at last met
Pitt's patriotically straining eyes, and he would follow it
as far as it would lead him. It first of all led him into
a position where a statesman with the most rudimentary
respect for consistency might have felt very uncom-
fortable. Gn no subject had Pitt so lavished his scorn-
ful rhetoric as on the connection between England and

' Yorkf's Parliamentary Journal.

GBANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 315

Hanover, and nothing had more scandalised his eloquent
patriotism than the English payment of Hanoverian
soldiers. How bitterly he had upbraided Granville for
this, and how his prophetic soul had been vexed by
visions of the degradation of England before a petty
Teutonic province ! Yet now, when the Pelhanis, fearful
of seeming to continue everything which Granville had
done, with dull timidity proposed a juggle by which
England, while appearing no longer to pay these troops,
should really continue to do so, Pitt at once supported
them with strong approval. An annual subsidy of
300,000/. had been voted to Maria Theresa since the
beginning of the war. Pelham now proposed that the
Queen should receive 500,000/., and it was perfectly well
understood that with the difference she was to support
the Hanoverian troops which the English Government
thereupon magnanimoasly resigned. Nobody was de-
ceived ; England was simply paying with the left liand
instead of witli the right. Ministers of course descanted,
with all the solemnit}' of augurs, on the paternal regard
of his majesty and the benevolent royal desire to put an
end to jealousies and heart-burnings. Augurs have to
tallv like that. Bu4 Pitt also, who was free from any official
obligation, eulogised the wisdom and goodness of the
Prince who had so graciously condescended to accept
Avhat was a mere sham and subterfuge ; and, when he
Avas attacked for his shameless inconsistency, he could
only fall back on the pleasant and convenient desire
that all that had jireviously passed on this question
might be buried in oblivion. The equivocal arrange-
ment proposed hj the Government was agreed to ;
but it was easy for Granville's friends to make some
very telling observations. The Pelham section of the
administration had only last year strongly apprn\-ed of

BIC LORD CARTEBET

paying the Hanoverians ; yet now they were making
a virtue of seeming to dismiss them ; the Pitt section
had seemed to consider the very personal existence of
these men on the face of the eartli as a national
grievance ; yet now they were voting English money
to support them. The whole transaction placed the
ministry in so bad a light that it was reckoned that
Granville, if he had chosen to show any resentment,
could have taken almost any revenge he pleased.

GranviUe did not interpose, and the Pelhams passed
through the rest of the parliamentary session with but
little trouble. But the King's displeasure with them was
not lessened, and the events of the year 1745 were not of
a kind to strengthen their Government. Foreign affairs
had at first seemed in a hopeful way ; Frederick's failure
in Bohemia had raised Austrian expectations ; and, on
.January 20, the death of the Emperor Charles VII.
broke the union between France and Bavaria. The new
Bavarian Elector came to terms with Maria Theresa,
and sanguine observers hoped that this fortunate peace
might be the forerunner of a general one. Far from it.
The war still went on in its double fashion ; England
against France in the Xetherlands, Frederick against
Austria in Germany ; rather like two separate wars than
the co-operation of allies. And England was fortunate
nowhere. The Duke of Cumberland had gone to the
Hague in high spirits, to put himself at the head of
the aUied army ; but Saxe beat him at Fontenoy, and
town after town fell into the hands of the French.
Austria fared just as badly. In battle after battle
Frederick was victorious ; and one week before the
clo.se of the year Maria Theresa was compelled to
yield, and to confirm to Prussia the cession of Silesia.

This state of thing- wa>; sufficiently disgusting to

GRANVILLE AND THE LELHAMS 817

George, and he reckoned his ministers mainly respon-
sible for his misfortunes. The grand improvement in
home and foreign affairs which was to result from the
dismissal of Granville had certainly nowhere appeared.
The King accused Newcastle of having cheated and
deceived him, and threw the Duke into deep distress.
When parliament ended in May 1745, Newcastle and
his allies told George that if he persisted in using them
so badly they could not face another session. But
George took no notice, and went off to Hanover with
Harrington, whom he did not yet hate more than all the
other ministers together. When the King returned, his
ill-humour increased. In September 1745 Newcastle
wrote to the Duke of Eichmond that the administration
had no power ; that the King would hardly vouchsafe
to them a word on business ; that he used bad languao-e
to them in their private interviews, telUng Pelham
further that he was incapable and a mere looker-on at
other men's policy, and roundly calling his advisers
' pitiful fellows.'^ While the Government was in this
wretched situation at home, the French were making
unchecked progress in the Netherlands, and urgent
appeals for assistance were coming from the Dutch.
Granville counselled firmness and vigour ; but the Pel-
hams did little or nothing. They even ventured to choose
this period of irritation for a deliberate demand which
the King felt intolerable. They required that Pitt
should be made Secretary at War. The King at first
absolutely declined ; Pitt, he said, might have any office
but that. When the ministers continued their impor-
tunities, George bitterly complained that his action was
being forced ; and he lamented to Lord Bath that he

'- Historical MSS. Commission; Report 1. ll.j. 31SS. of the Duke of
Iticlimond.

318 LORD CAIiTEBET

■was not a King but a prisoner. On Bath's advice he
positively refused that special appointment for Pitt, and
Bath admitted to Harrington that the advice was his.
' They who dictate in private should be employed in
public,' dryly replied the Secretary ; and though Pitt
gave up his claim, and the Government acquiesced in
the refusal, the Pelhams resolved to give the King a
lesson which he would hardly be likely to forget.

On -January 17, 1746, Charles Stuart had de-
feated General Hawley at Falkirk. It was while a
serious rebellion was still successfully fighting against
the sovereign that the responsible ministers of the crown
resolved to resign. There was no question of principle
at issue ; while English troops were fighting a Pretender
the Pelhams threw up the Government as a mere specu-
lation in personal and party tactics. They seem to have
persuaded themselves, with good enough reason, that
the King was anxious to get rid of them as soon as
pubhc affairs would allow. They resolved to anticipate
him. Sacrificing every feeling of responsibility and
patriotism to their jealousy of a dreaded rival and to
their determination to let the King feel that they them-
selves were indispensable, they produced a pohtical crisis
in the midst of a military rebellion. On February 10
their scheme, well calculated with ingenious selfishness,
was started by the resignation of Lord Harrington. He
angered George by the rough indecency of his behaviour.
Instead of returning the purse and seals into the King's
hands, he flung them down on the table and declared
he could no longer serve with honour.^ Xewcastle, who
resigned the same day, managed better with his master.
He himself wrote that in their interview the King wa-
' very civil, kind enough, and we parted very good

' Lord Marchinont's Diary ; Marehmont Papers, I. 182.

GRANVILLE AND THE PELHA2IS 319

friends.' The Government had noAV lost both its Foreign
Secretaries. Instantly the seals of both departments
Avere sent to Granville : the one for himself, the other
for whomever he might select. On the very next
day, Granville attended at Court as minister, and de-
spatched a circular to the ministers abroad, informing
them that the Xing ' has been pleased to appoint me to
resume the place of principal Secretary of State, and
to execute the business of both offices for the present.'
Bath was made Fiist Lord of the Treasury ; Granville
and Bath together were to rearrange the dilapidated
administration.

So far well ; but on this same day of Granville's
appointment, Pelhani, whom Granville had no wish to
remove from the ministry, also resigned, and was followed
by many other members of the Government. It was
announced that other important resignations would take
place next day. The ingenious scheme of the Pelhams
was thus evident at once. In order to distress the
King, and to make the formation of a new ministry
impossible, they had induced every important member
of the existing administration, and many who were the
very reverse of important, to follow them into retire-
ment. The success of such well-laid plans could hardly
in any case have been long delayed, though authori-
ties variously estimate the amount of support on which
Granville might have fairly counted. On one event,
however, Granville can hardly have reckoned. On
February 12, Lord Bath, in a fit of frightened irreso-
lution, resigned the office which he had only accepted
the day before. He had taken Lord Carlisle with
him to Court, to present him as one of the new min-
isters ; but instead of introducing him to the King, Bath
himself went in alone to a private audience, resigned

320 LOBD GABTEEET

liis own seals, and then ' sneaked down the back-stair,
leaving Lord Carlisle kicking his heels at the fire in
the outer room.'^ Thus the difficult attempt which, by
the King's desire, Granville was making, w^as practically
ruined a few hours after its commencement. Horace
Walpole gives a lively account of the conclusion of the
affair. Lord Bath, says Walpole, in a letter very weak
on the grammatical side,

' Went to the King, and told him that he had tried
the House of Commons, and found it would not do.
Bounce ! went all the project into shivers, like the vessels
in Ben Jonson's Alchymist, when they are on the brink
of the philosopher's stone. The poor King, who, from
iDeing fatigued with the Duke of Xewcastle, and sick
of Pelham's timidity and compromises, had given in to
this mad hurly-burly of alterations, was confounded
with having floundered to no purpose, and to find him-
self more than ever in the power of men he hated,
shut himself up in his closet, and refused to admit any
more of the people who were pouring in upon him
with white sticks, and golden keys, and commissions,
etc. At last he sent for Winnington, and told him he
was the only honest man about him, and should have
the honour of a reconcihation, and sent him to Mr.
Pelham, to desire they would all return to their em-
ployments.'^

It was on February 14, two days after Bath's resig-
nation, that the King was forced to this determination ;
and on that same day Granville resigned, and Xewcastle
and Harrington resumed their places. Lord March-
mont saw Granville come out from his parting audience
with the King. ' He met the Duke of Xewcastle going

' yiarchmont Papers, I. 174.

■ II. Wal].ole to Mann; IVb. 14, 1746.

GBANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 321

in ; and they made each other a dry bow, and passed
on.' That was a curious Uttle scene, full of the sarcasm
of politics. The imbecile Duke had once more defeated
the man of genius. It is not probable that on this
particular occasion Granville expected anything else.
In obedience to the King, he had cheerfuUy made the
attempt ; but he seems to have done it against his own
judgment, and he certainly did not deceive himself
with expectations of success. He did not think it
necessary to inform the ambassador at Florence of
his appointment ; before a courier could get there, he
said, he should be out of power again. On a later
occasion he distinctly declared that he was forced into
the thing by Lord Bath,^ whose own conduct on the
occasion fully justified the nickname of ' weathercock '
Pulteney. But it is not necessary to exaggerate the
effect which Bath's fright and betrayal produced on
the new arrangements. It only hastened what could
not in any case have been long in coming. Against
the overwhelming parliamentary influence of the Pel-
hams it was impossible to stand ; and the l^rothers
knew that they had resigned only to be recalled.
They perhaps were not even much surprised that the
summons came to them so very quickly. Bath had
been First Lord of the Treasury for one day ; Gran-
ville had been Secretary of State for less than four.

To small wits this curious political episode was a
godsend and source of mild rapture. Gentle dulness
feared to walk the streets by night, lest it should be
seized by the press-gang and forced into the Cabinet.
In a moment of inspiration it was discovered that the
friends of Granville were Granvillains. Other brillian-
cies, hardly inferior to these, dazzled the pohtical world.

' H. Walpole to Mann ; June 18, 1751.

Y

322 LOBD GABTERET

But the Kinfj- was not among the laughers. Granville
himself took the thing in the most good-humoured
way ; but George was fuU of anger and vexation. He
asked Bath to write a full account of the way in which
his ministers had treated him. ' Eub it in their noses,'
he said royally, ' and if it be possible make them
ashamed.' To the Duke of Xewcastle he called Har-
rington a rascal ; to Harrington he called the Duke a
fool. He treated Harrington Avith special incivihty,
and never forgot his grudge against him ; for he had
been the first minister to resign. Four years later,
when there was a question of some official appointment
for Harrington, the King flew into a rage. ' He said the
generalship of marines was to be the reward of every-
body who flew in his face : that that was the case of
that old rascal Stair : that my Lord Harrington should
have his ears cut ofi". . . . At last he said, " He de-
serves to be hanged ; and I am ready to tell him so. ' ^
Pelham, not so hardened to abuse as his brother, was
soon again threatening resignation. He told the King
he would rather Granville should have his place than
keep it himself. The retort was olj\ious. ■ You make
it impossible for him to have it, and then want me to
give it to him.' Gossip of the town did indeed soon
point to Granville as destined speedily to be minister
again ; but the King had received his lesson, and did
not forcret it. ^linisters are the King in this country,
he had once said to Lord Chancellor Hard^vNicke : and
he now ^delded with anciiv disL'ust. • Go back r — yes.
but not without conditions ! Harrington had insisted
when tlie Pelhams re.-:umed their places after Granville's
four days. One of the conditions concerned Pitt, and
the sure sign of the King's surrender was the admission

' Add. M~.=. '.'fi^i ; fol. 10.3. Utter of Newcastle, Oct. 21, 1750,

GBAN7ILLE AND THE PELHAMS 323

of Pitt to office. Tears were seen in his eyes when Pitt
first appeared in the drawing-room to kiss hands.'

For two years more after this short ministerial
crisis the war in the Netherlands dragged drearily on
under the dull direction of the Pelhams. It was one
long story of mismanagement and failure. During the
Scotch rebellion, English help was withdrawn from the
Austrians in Flanders, and the French were left to do
as they pleased. Their successes were numerous ;
nearly all the Austrian ]Sretherla)\ds feU into their
hands. Yet they began to think of peace. They had
lost their Bavarian alliance ; they had lost Prussia when
Frederick had made peace with Maria Theresa ; they
lost active help from Spain by the death of the Spanish
King in the summer of 1746. In these circumstances,
a Congress, as futile as those at Cambrai and Soissons,
was opened at Breda in September, and sat wearily
there till March 1747, when it broke up, having done
nothing. The war, with its long list of losses and
defeats, continued. The Pelhams were not happier in
their management of their own domestic concerns.
Party politics were in a more or less confused condition,
and party feeling was running high. It was in this
year 1746 that Gibbon, a schoolboy of nine years old,
was in his own words ' reviled and buffeted ' because
his ancestors had been Tories. The ministers them-
selves were quarrelling with one another. Harrington,
the one Secretary, very naturally wished to put an
end to the war ; Newcastle, the other, terribly anxious
to gain the King's personal favour, desired that the
wretched military business should continue. The
dispute was onl)- closed by the dismissal of Harrington
with a heavy pension ; though in official language he

' Glover's Memoirs of n Celehnited roUtkal and Literary Character.

Y 2

82-1 LOBD CABTEBET

resigned on account of his age and infirmities. Being
old and infirm, lie was naturally made Lord-Lieutenant
of L-eland. On October 29, the day after Harring-
ton's resignation, Chesterfield took the vacant place ;
anxiously pressed to accept by Xewcastle, who feared
that if he refused the King would again send for Gran-
ville. Chesterfield accepted, hardly, as he said, knowing
whether he was on his head or his heels ; and the
chaotic condition of the ministry became every month
more evident. Chesterfield's conversations with Lord
Marchmont give a most curious picture of the way in
which the so-called Government of England conducted
the nation's affairs. The King hated all his advisers ;
but, unable to get rid of them, left them to do as they
pleased, bitterly saying that he was not competent to
assist them in cases of difiiculty. ' Xo real business was
done,' said Chesterfield to Marchmont ; ' there was no
plan ; and, in differences of opinion, the King bid them
do what they thought fit, and continued very indolent,
saying that it signified nothing, as his son, for whom he
did not care a louse, was to succeed him, and would
live long enough to ruin us all ; so that there was no
Government at all.' Li October 1747 Chesterfield told
Marchmont that he did not know where the Govern-
ment lived. There was no Government ; they met, and
talked, and then said, Lord ! it is late ; when shall we
meet to talk over this again ? In that same month, the
differences between Newcastle and his brother were so
extreme that they could not speak to each other
without falhng into a passion, and actually dechned to
meet. The leader in the House of Commons would not
see the leader in the House of Lords. Pelham and
Chesterfield were anxious for peace ; Xewcustle, not
understanding what he was talking about, urged the

GRANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 325

continuance of the war. Befoi'e the year was out
Chesterfield, disgusted with his personal situation, and
declaring that what might become of the other ministers
was no business of his, resolved to resign. He did so
in February 1748; 'on account of the ill state of his
health,' wrote Newcastle with unblushing officialism.
The Secretaryships were once more shuffled. Newcastle
returned to his old Northern Department; the Duke of
Bedford became Secretary for the South.

Chesterfield on resigning had left behind him a pro-
test against the prolongation of the war. But already
the war was practically over. The King's speech at
the opening of the session in November 1747 had
announced, without open sarcasm, the meeting of one
more European Congress. This Congress duly com-
menced to assemble at Aix-la-Chapelle in March 1748,
Lord Sandwich being the chief English representative.
On the last day of April, England, France, and Holland,
finding it impossible to overcome the vexatious delays
of Austria and Spain, privately signed preliminaries of
peace on their own account, leaving the others to agree
at their leisure. Fighting therefore ceased ; and on
October 18 the definite Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was
signed by all parties. Thus at length the unfortunate
war was over ; yet the peace created no enthusiasm,
and even little approval, in England. It was evident
from the first that the so-called peace was only a
temporary arrangement which practically concluded
nothing. England had been at war with France and
Spain ; this fantastic settlement left the leading ques-
tions of dispute between the three countries still un-
decided. The very question which had been the
original cause of the war, the Spanish claim of Eight
of Search, Avas not even mentioned in the treaty ; and

;-!-2c, LORD CARTERET

while England acquired Cape Breton, nothing was done
towards defining an intelligible boundary-line between
the English and French possessions in Xortli America.
The treaty or armistice of Aix-la-Chapelle left all this
in the vague, and was little more than the commence-
ment of a truce which managed to last for eight
years.

The pohtical history of England during the two or
three years which immediately followed the peace is of
the very slightest interest. It is hardly to be called
political history at all. Parliament was tranquil and
doing nothing ; in the session of 1750 the fullest House
and largest division were on a disputed turnyjike bill.
A little languid agitation accompanied the patronage
which it pleased the Prince of Wales to give to such
mediocre opposition as there was ; a Princely patronage
from which Granville held quite aloof Otherwise, the
political Avorld found its sole excitement in the personal
squabbling of Xewcastle with members of his own
Government, and in the shifting schemes and combina-
tions with which he was joerpetually busied. Having
already disgusted and alienated Harrington and Chester-
field, Xewcastle was now elaborating a quarrel with the
Duke of Bedford. As the Pelham Government origin-
ally stood, Bedford had been at the head of the Admiralty.
When he was promoted to the Secretaryship of State,
his influence secured the Admiralty appointment for
hi? friend Sandwich. The intimacy between Sandwich
and Bedford annoyed Xewcastle ; and the very friendly
intercourse of the King's favourite son Cumberland with
the Bedford party roused all the Prime Minister's jealous
alarm and treacherous timidity. In his usual way he
began to scheme for Bedford's removal. He was so
friL^litened, and so willing to humiliate himself when-

GBAKVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 8^7

ever he seemed to see the slightest menace to his own
personal power, that he even attempted to win over
Granville to his side, and in June 1749 offered him the
Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland ; but Granville refused.
Having failed here, and finding no success in his schemes
for dismissino- his colleague, Newcastle was soon goinfj
through his favourite performance and threatening to
resign. The ministers unkindly told him that he might
do as he pleased. Of course he did not resign ; and in
April 1750, overcoming his dread of the Channel for
the second time in his life, he accompanied the King to
Hanover. From the Hague he poured out his distresses
to his brother : —

' I think it a little hard that the Duke of Cumber-
land and the Princess Amelia should use me so cruelly
as they have done : excommunicate me from all societ}',
set a kind of brand or mark upon me and all who think
with me ; and set up a new, unknown, factious young
party [Sandwich and Bedford] to rival me, and nose me
everywhere. This goes to my heart : I am sensible, if
I could have submitted and cringed to such usage, the
pubhc appearances would have been better, and perhaps
some secret stabs have been avoided ; but I was too
proud and too innocent to do it.' ^

How could proud innocence endure the stabbing
and the branding and the nosing any longer ? New-
castle accordingly now began to lose and bewilder
himself in a confused medley of ridiculous or impossible
plans. If Bedford could not be got out of the way,
Newcastle would himself cease to be Secretary of State,
and become Lord President. Could not Sir Thomas
Eobinson, or even Chesterfield, once more take the
seals ? Hardwicke immediately informed the Duke that

1 Coxe's Pelham, 11. 336. May 20, ]750.

328 LOBD CABTEBET

the ministry would not accept Eobinson, and the King
would not accept Chesterfield. Then Newcastle blandly-
suggested Granville, and with amusing superciliousness
assured Pelham that Granville would make a very good
Secretary, and would be the greatest conceivable assist-
ance to them in their management of foreign affairs.
Newcastle even professed to be no longer afraid of
Granville. ' My Lord Granville is no more the terrible
man ; non eadeni est retas, non men-.' When Pelham,
who probably knew better, replied that if Granville
were made Secretary of State he would himself resign,
Newcastle immediately declared that Granville was of
course out of the question. ' I opinidtre nothing,' he
wrote in his terrible jargon to Hardwicke. 'Lord
Granville is dropped ; I will never mention him more.' ^
So schemes were sketched only to vanish ; and in
November, when the King and Newcastle returned,
things were in a more confused condition than ever.
They rapidly became worse. When Pelham at last
ventured to propose to the King the removal of Bedford,
the King absolutely refused. Newcastle was in despair.
He would resign, and Granville might form a new minis-
try. He quarrelled afresh with his brother, and they
refused to meet except on public affairs. The confusion,
the faction, the endless intriguing were so bewildering
that even sneering and cynical onlookers of the
Horace Walpole stamp confessed themselves sick of
the contemptible scene.

The political imbroglio seemed almost at its worst,
when an unexpected event came to the assistance of
the Pelhams. On March -31, 1751, the Prince of AV ales
died. The Leicester House opposition, of which party
Bolingbroke was the only member much above medio-

' Add. MSS. 0^24 ; fol. 80, 81.

GRANVILLE AND THE PELEAMS 329

crity, was thus broken up, and thePelhams were corre-
spondingly relieved. They now felt strong enough to
have their own way about Bedford, in spite of the
King's refusal to disiniss him. By dismissing Sandwich,
who owed his place to Bedford, they would make it
impossible for Bedford himself to keep office. In June
Sandwich was removed, and Bedford resigned next
day. Two or three days later a more startling an-
nouncement was made. Pelham had repeatedly and
positively declared, in public and in private, that he
would never again serve as a colleague with Granville.
Yet on June 17 Granville became Lord President of
the Council in the Government of the Pelhams. Pro-
bably each side felt its need of the other. Newcastle
during his residence at Hanover had never been weary
of urging upon his brother how useful Granville would
be to them in their foreign politics, and how dangerous
opposition might become if Granville should clioose to
put himself at the head of it. Granville, on his side,
had learnt from personal experience that it was im-
possible for any statesman to hold power if opposed by
the Pelhams' parliamentary influence. After all that
had passed during so many years a perfect reconciliation
was hardly to be hoped for ; but a common under-
standing was arranged in a very informal way. Gran-
ville and Pelham met privately at the house of a friend ;
one of the two, it is impossible now to say which,
arriving there in a mysteriously muffled-up condition,
unrecognisable to any one. They talked to each other
with considerable reserve. But their host was deter-
mined that the negotiation should not fail. At the
right moment he produced, with perfect success, a good
supper and good wine. The preliminary coolness soon
passed away, and next day it was known to all tlie

330 LORD CARTERET

world that union was restored between them.^ But the
agreement was one of convenience and toleration far
more than of eager co-operation. Granville told the
Pelhams that he would work harmoniously with them,
and he kept liis word. On the day before he accepted
office he wrote to Newcastle : —

'Your Grace may depend on my cordial attach-
ment, which I shall explain further when I see you. I
am glad that Mr. Pelham has told you that he will
support your measures jointly ; which is all I can
desire, dreading nothing so much as disputes, whirh
I will never occasion or promote.'

But Granville's personal opinion of the Pelhams of
course remained what it had always been ; and the
Pelhams feared Granville hardly less as a friend than
as an enemy. Observers thought that they had good
ground for fear, and that Granville would soon be
master again in fact if not in name. ' Lord Granville,'
wrote Horace Walpole on the day after the appoint-
ment, ' is actually Lord President, and, by all outward
and visible signs, something more ; in short, if he don't
overshoot himself, the Pelhams have ; the King's favour
to him is visible, and so much credited that all the in-
cense is oiTered to him.' Writing fi-om memory many
years later, the same observer reports that when Gran-
ville was wished joy on the reconciliation he replied :
' " I am the King's President ; I know nothing of the
Pelhams ; I have nothing to do with them." The very

day he kissed hands, he told Lord D , one of the

dirtiest of their creatures, " Well, my lord, here is the
common enemy returned." ' ^ The anecdote may be

' Mr. Nugent, afterwards Earl Nugent, at whose house Granville and
Pelham met, told the particulars as above to the House of Commons in
1784. Parliamenturij History, XXIV. 634.

' Last Ten Years of C! corye he Serond, I. 171,

GRANVILLE AND THE PELHAMS 331

true or false ; less likely perhaps to be false than true.
Henry Pelham at least would have believed it. He had
yielded to the King and to his brother, and had consented
to Granville's return, though people found it difficult
honourably to reconcile Pelham's acquiescence with his
often-repeated statements on the subject ; but he was at
least unfailingly consistent in his suspicion and dread
of Granville. More than a year after Granville had
joined the ministry, Pelham was convinced that lie was
only lying by, waiting his opportunity which was sure
to come. In September 1752 Pelham wrote to his
brother :—

' I have no reserve with regard to Lord Granville.
I am resolved to live well with him, which I can easily
do if we have no public meetings ; for he takes care we
shall have no private ones. My opinion of him is the
same it always was ; he hurries forward all these Ger-
man affairs, because he thinks he shows his parts and
pleases the King ; in both which I think he is mistaken.^
But believe me, he lies by ; he has as much vanity and
ambition as he ever had, and he sees the King's personal
inclination to his ministers is as it was ; he hopes there-
fore in all these contradictory circumstances that some-
thing may fall out, and then he is sure to succeed ; in
which I believe he is in the right. . . . Notwithstanding
this, when we meet at the Eegency Council, we laugh,
and are as good friends as can be.' -

Pelham's fears and suspicions were groundless.
Three years of unbroken quiet passed by, and party
politics seemed no longer to be in existence. It was
then not Granville but Pelham himself who, in a quite
inevitable way, opened the gates of strife again.

' In both which the mistake was Pelham's own.
■' Coxe, Pelhmn, II. 4.52.

322 LOBD GABTEBET ,

CHAPTER IX.

LAST YEARS.
1754-17G3.

Gea>'ville lived nearly twelve years after becoming
President of the Council, and held that office uninter-
ruptedly till the day of his death. But his active
political career was practically over. He continued to
take a keen interest in political affairs ; and in the ex-
citing domestic and foreign questions which filled the
closing years of the reign of George H. he was always
ready with witty speech and experienced counsel. But
in the strife of parties he declined now to play any
other part than that of adviser and mediator. He held
a dignified office ; while Secretaries came and went, he
continued to be the King's President ; his personal posi-
tion was influential ; his advice carried with it the weight
of the statesman who had been engaged in public affairs
from the time when he had left the University. From
the vulgar self-seeking of politics he had always been
free ; and now, when years were coming upon him and
health was failing, its legitimate ambitions had no over-
powering attraction for him. Twice again he was
asked to take the highest, place, and become Prime
Minister of England, but each time he refused. PoHtical
fate had not always used him too kindly ; he had been
thwarted and baulked by some of the most insignificant

LAST YEABS 333

beings wlio ever brought politics down to tlieir own
low level. But he now contested it with them no longer,
' resigned, in a big contemptuous way, to have had his
really considerable career closed upon him by the
smallest of mankind ; ' ^ and when the blundering in-
capacity of Newcastle put revenge within easy reach,
Granville refused to take it.

The three years' political quiet ended when Pelham
unexpectedly died on March 6, 1754. ' I shall now
have no more peace,' said the King ; and he spoke the
exact truth. For more than three years the political
world at home was a chaotic scene, where ministers
and ministries rose and fell as faction and intrigue de-
manded. And when the miserable exhibition was over
and a strong Government held undisputed power, Eng-
land was engaged in a war which was not concluded
when the King died. The strictly political history of
the last six years of the reign of George II. is concerned
almost exclusively with these two series of events. They
were unconnected at first, but soon ran into each other,
so that the settlement of what was originally a mere
vulgar rivalry in corrupt personal politics had an im-
portant influence upon a war which affected three
continents.

It was easy to find a successor to Pelham's office.
For a moment, Newcastle had gone into transports of
grief for his brother's death, and with his customary elTu-
siveness had declared that he would give up everything,
and have nothing more to do with public affairs. But
of course he soon recovered ; and, being evidently born
to govern England, appointed himself Prime Minister
in his brother's place. But he could not also appoint
himself leader in the House of Commons ; and as all the

> Oarlyle's Frederick, Book XVIII. Chap. III.

334 LOBD CABTEBET

prominent members of the Government were now in the
House of Lords there was no one to whom, as a matter
of course, the leadership of the Commons seemed to
belong. Political gossip was soon busy with many
names. Chesterfield, contemplating the confusion from
his comparative retirement, in his usual rehgious way
thanked God that he was now nothing but a bystander,
and found cynical amusement in watching the mysterious
looks and important shrugs of the small blockheads of
politics, whose mystic solemnity on such occasions is
sometimes seriously taken by simple persons. When
all the irresponsible gossiping was over, it was found
that practically there was only one man of leading
ability in the House to whom the vacant post could be
offered. Murray, the Attorney- General, capable of hold-
ing any position, found no attraction in pohtics, and re-
served himself for the highest seats of his own profession.
Pitt, Paymaster of the Forces, had Uttle influence in the
House where he had sat for nearly twenty years. He
had confined his intimacy to a small knot of personal
relatives, keeping himself apart from the mass of mem-
bers in a hardly disguised scornful isolation. He was
also angrily hated by the King, and to Pitt, with his
overwhelming reverence for the royal office even in the
person of George H., this seemed a calamity against
which it was useless to strive. It is humiliating to read
the words written at this time by the man who, three
years later, was himseK the real ruler of England : —

' All ardour for public business is really extinguished
in mv mind, and I am totally deprived of all consider-
ation by which alone I could have been of any use.
The weight of irremovable royal displeasure is a load
too great to move under ; it has sunk and broke me. I
succumb, and wish for nothing but a decent and inno-

LAST YEARS 335

cent retreat, wherein I may no longer, by continuing
in the pubhc stream of promotion, for ever stick fast
aground, and afford to the world the ridiculous spectacle
of being passed by every boat that navigates the same
river.' ^

Murray and Pitt being thus out of the question,
Newcastle's choice seemed almost necessarily confined
to Henry Fox, the Secretary at War. Strictly speaking,
Fox had no more genuine political ambition than Murray,
or at least he soon renounced whatever real political
aspirations may once have attracted him. But he did
care very much for what could be made out of politics,
and was miserably willing to drop all aims at a distin-
guished career and to do dirty work in the dregs of
parliamentary life simply for the money which his
degradation gained him. For no higher object, he was
content to earn the sneers of his contemporaries and
the vexed scorn of posterity. Granville in vain urged
him the other way. Fox had not yet, however, fallen
so low as this ; and though he showed an excessive
eagerness to seize Pelham's vacant place, his conduct in
the negotiations that followed contrasts very favourably
with the proceedings of Newcastle. Pelham had died
at six o'clock in the morning. Before eight Fox was at
the Marquis of Hartington's, starting the necessary
arrangements. At first they seemed to go successfully
enough. Fox himself was to be leader of the House of
Commons and Secretary of State. He announced it to
a friend, with candid self-criticism : —

' Know then the Duke of Newcastle goes to the
head of the Treasur}-, and I am to be Secretary of
State, of course Cabinet Councillor, and at the head of
the House of Commons. . . . Now what do you think

' Chntham Correspondence, I. 105. April 6, 1754.

336 LOBD CABTEBET

of ttds new Secretary of State ? Why, that he is got
into the place in England that he is most unfit for. So
he thinks, I can assure you.' '^

Newcastle, though he reserved to himself the actual
disposal of the money spent in parhamentary corrup-
tion — the secret-service money, as official pleasantness
politely called it — promised that Fox should always know
how the gifts of a grateful minister had been distributed.
But the Duke, who watched over the bribery depart-
ment with a timid and jealous exclusiveness, soon began
to fear that he had offered the new Secretary too much.
He was anxious to take back his word, yet he could
not deny the agreement which he had made with Lord
Hartington, the manager of the negotiations. With
characteristic deception, Xewcastle devised a subter-
fuge which allowed him to shnk out of his difficulty.
He might, he said in his sleek way, have used words
which meant what Hartington and Fox had understood
them to mean ; but certainly he himself had never
understood them so ; he had been thrown into such
anxiety and affliction and grief by his brother's death
that his memory was all upset ; but he had never in-
tended that Fox should have anything to do with secret
money or patronage. Fox, reasonably enough asking
how he was to manage the House of Commons if he
did not know who Avas bribed and who not, dechned to
accept the leadership on these niggardly terms, and
resigned the seals on March 14, the day after he had
received them. Newcastle then tried a most ludicrous
experiment. As he could not get a man of abiHty to
accept office on the mere footing of a clerk, he resolved
to appoint a so-called minister who would do what he

' Fox to 'Lord Digby ; March 12, 1754. Eiyhth Repurt of the Hiit.
MSS. Commission, p. LJl'O.

LAST YEABS 837

was told and ask no questions. He selected Sir Thomas
Robinson, the rather dull Vienna diplomatist of the
Silesian war times ; a man who knew nothing whatever
about parliamentary affairs. Robinson was actually
made Secretary of State, and set at the head of the House
of Commons. The dual leadership was indeed most
curious. The head of the Government in the House of
Lords was little better than an idiot ; the leader in the
House of Commons did not know the elementary lan-
guage of parliamentary life, and as a speaker was so
ludicrously absurd that his best friends could not keep
serious faces while they listened to him.

The opportunity was too tempting to be lost by Pitt
and Fox. Pitt,- slighted by Newcastle and neglected by
the Court, could not be enthusiastic in support of the
Government of which he was an inferior member ; Fox
had just been refused a distinguished office because he
would not accept it on ignominious conditions. I'he two
subordinates, therefore, lately not on very good terms
with each other, began to di-aw together. When
Parliament met in November 17-34, Pitt and Fox made
Robinson's life a misery to him. Pitt did not spare even
Murray and Newcastle himself; Fox actively assisted
Robinson in making himself ridiculous. Robinson
pathetically declared that he had not desired the high
office which he held. Pitt coolly replied that if any one
else had wished it, Robinson would not have had it.
Steady party men voted with the Government, but
laughed while they did so. Far less than all this Avas
enough to frighten Newcastle, and he was perplexed
between dread of dismissing the two rebels and dread
of keeping them. He ended by adopting the less
dangerous plan of attempting to divide them. A neo-o-
tiation, managed by the King's personal friend Lord

z ■

338 LOBD CABTEBET

Waldegrave, was opened with Fox ; and in tlie spring
of 1755 Fox consented to enter the Cabinet and serve
under Eobinson -ndthout attacking him. Granville, to
whom personally it was a question of no moment, had
judged Fox's interest and conduct in politics by his
own high standard, and had predicted his certain pro-
motion. ' I must tell you,' wrote Fox to his wife at the
end of 1754, ' a compliment of Lord Granville's ima-
gination, and whether I tell you because it is pretty,
or because it flatters me, or both, you may judge. I
was not present. " They must," says he, " gain Fox.
They must not think it keeps him under in the House
of Commons. They cannot keep him under. Mix
liquors together, and the spirit will be uppermost." ' ^
Granville could not have predicted that Fox would
soon be willing to sink to the very bottom.

Though the alliance between Fitt and Fox was thus
broken, the domestic dispute was still far from settled,
and at this point it became entangled in the difficulties
and dangers from abroad. The long truce gained Ijy
the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle was nearly over ; the
final stage of the war was threateningly near. The
first signs of trouble came from Xorth America. Be-
tween the English and the French Colonies in America
there Avas no fixed and indisputable line of division.
The French ventured to insist that the English colonists
should confine themselves to the ground East of the
AUeo-hanies, between the mountains and the sea. "What
was West of the Alleghanies the French, with magni-
ficent effrontery, claimed as their own ; and Canada
they already had. Confused conditions and conflicting
demands resulted in colonial war, and it was soon clear
that the war could not be limited to the colonies. In
1754 George AYashington, making his first historical

' Quoted in Trevelyan's Early Life 'jf C. J. Fux, p. 10 n.

LAST YEABS 839

appearance, was defeated by the French ; in the spring
of 1755 the Enghsh Government was sending out troops
to North America. The Frencli did the same ; and Avar
between France and England, though as yet not formally
declared, had practically begun. Its opening event
was not an omen of its close. On July 9, 1755, the
English General Braddock was surprised and defeated
by the united French and Indians at Fort Duquesne.
When the war ended there was no Fort Duquesne any
longer. Its name had been changed to Pittsburg.

In spite of the troubled condition of public affairs,
the King refused to forego his yearly visit to Hanover.
In his absence, important questions came before the
ministers who formed the Eegency. One of the most
pressing of these referred to the relations between
England and France. One English fleet had already
been sent to America. In July 1755 another was ready,
but the ministrj', in the awkward state of affairs, with
war still undeclared, were much perplexed in drawing
up the instructions which were to guide the admiral.
When Sir Edward Hawke sailed with his fleet, what
was he to do with it ? The Duke of Cumberland was
for acting as if the country was formally at war. Lord
Chancellor Hardwicke wished for time and recom-
mended caution. Newcastle was delightfully ridicu-
lous. He ' gave his opinion that Hawke should take a
turn in the Channel to exercise the fleet, without having
any instructions whatever.'^ Imbecility of this descrip-
tion was the Prime Minister's contribution to the
government of the country. Granville first was of
opinion that the English fleet should act hostilely, but
only against French men-of-war. ' Lord Granville,'
Fox told Dodington, ' was absolutely against meddling

' Lord Waldegraye's Memoir.^, p. 47.

Z 2

340 LOBD CABTEBET

with trade — he called it vexing your neighbours for a
little muck.' ^ Granville's view seems to have been
adopted ; but when the news of Braddock's disaster
reached England things were recognised as serious
beyond anticipjation, and Granville's counsel adapted
itself to the graver circumstances. ' The Duke of
Xewcastle in Council,' says Lord Shelbume, ' proposed
seizing the French men-of-war. Lord Granville laughed
at that, and was the cause of seizing the merchant-men
upon the principle of common sense — if you hit, hit
hard ; which measure, suggested by Lord Granville, who
could not be considered as more than a looker-on in
Council, saved us from ruin.' ^ Orders were sent to
Hawke accordingly, who seized everjthing he could
lay hands on ; yet France did not declare war.

While his ministers were thinking of France, George
was thinking of Hanover. For the protection of his
inestimable possession he had been, and still was, pay-
ing subsidies on all hands, offering money for men
wherever a continental ruler would deal Avith him. It
was an annoying circumstance that at the very moment
Avhen these expensive arrangements might have been of
some practical use the date of the termination of some
of them fell due. George saw no remedy but to make
new ones. At Hanover he therefore occupied himself
with this congenial business. His treaties with Saxony
and Bavaria were expiring ; he entered upon new
agreements ^\'ith Hesse and even with Paissia. The
Hessian treaty was actually concluded, and the King
indifferently sent it over to England to be ratified as
a matter of course. This seemingly innocent perform-
ance had a most startling consequence. It drove the

' Dodington's ZJiflcy ; July -1, IToo.

^ Lord Shelbuxne's Autubioyraphy. Fit/.uiaurice'd Shdhurne, I. 7.J.

LAST YEABS 341

excitable political world into a crisis which lasted for
nearly two years. The scenes played on the stage of
English politics between 1755 and 1757 were more hke
the sudden changes of farce or pantomime than the sober
proceedings of sane politicians and statesmen. They
began when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Legge,
urged, it is said, by Pitt, refused to sign the Treasury
warrants for the Hessian subsidy. Newcastle immedi-
ately Avas filled with terrified astonishment. He hastened
to Pitt, and with fawning flattery and maudlin fulsome-
ness tried to secure his assistance. Pitt clearly let
Newcastle understand that he would accept nothing
less than the Secretaryship of State, with a Secretary's
full powers, and that he would not support the Eussian
subsidy, or a political system founded on subsidies.
Newcastle was greatly distressed, but not j-et sufficiently
intimidated to yield to Pitt's requirements. In his
alarm he had already appealed to Granville. As soon
as rumours of the opposition to the subsidies had begun
to spread, Granville had said to Newcastle : ' You will
now be served yourself as you and your brother served
me. Your colleagues will not abuse you themselves,
but will sit still and rather encourage the abuse than
defend you.' ^ When Legge's terrible refusal had
scared Newcastle out of the little sense he possessed, he
offered to yield his place that Granville might take it ;
but Granville, outwardly laughing, said with bitter con-
tempt that he was not fit to be First Minister, and
refused. Having thus failed to throw his own respon-
sibility upon Granville, and having failed to induce Pitt
to manage his afi"airs in the House of Commons, New-
castle was compelled to turn once more to Pox. Gran-
ville, though he did not know what Fox thought on the

' Dodintton's Dmj-y ; August 18, 1755.

342 LOBD CABTEBET

subsidy question, mentioned his name to the King, and
undertook the negotiation between Fox and Newcastle.
The two met, Fox declaring to the Duke that this was
the last time he would ever meet him to see if they
could agree. Granville first proposed that Fox should
be Chancellor of the Exchequer. Newcastle, terribly
jealous always when the control of money was in ques-
tion, replied that if that were so Fox and he would not
agree for a fortnight. At last Granville arranged that
Fox should become Secretary of State and leader of the
House of Commons. It was much against Newcastle's
inclination, but he could not help himself. The Lower
House could not go on in a state of anarchy ; and ex-
cept Fox there was no one who was willing to accept
the management on Newcastle's terms. Eobinson was
easily got rid of, much to his own relief, being let down
softly with the assistance of an Irish pension ; and a
cypher, as witty persons thought, was thus turned into
figures. In November 1755 the House met under its
new leader.

A week after the meeting of parhament Pitt and
Legge were dismissed. Pitt, though a member of the
Government, had distinguished himself in the debate on
the address by a very eloquent attack on Newcastle
and Fox. In a still remembered sentence, he compared
the union between Fox and Newcastle to the junction
of the Pthone and Saone at Lyon. Fox after the debate
asked Pitt Avhether the Rhone stood for himself or for
Granville. Pitt rather enigmatically replied : ' You are
Granville ; ' a statement very wide of the mark. Pitt's
rhetorical triumph wa,s great ; but he could make no
impression upon tlie position of the Government.
AVhen parliament approved the continental treaties
wliich the King had madf, Pitt r-ontinued to protest.

LAST YEABS 318

and, resuming the old Hanoverian abuse wliich he had
dropped while in ministerial favour, he asserted that
England was on the way to bankruptcy for the sake
of Hanover, a place too insignificant to be marked on
the map of Europe. Why, he asked, should England,
like Prometheus, be chained with fetters to that barren
rock? Pitt took little by his oratory, and the end of
the session silenced his parliamentary eloquence ; but
the eloquence of facts was about to pronounce against
the Prime Minister even more emphatically than Pitt
himself. England declared war against France on May
17, 1756. The spring had been an anxious one, passed
apprehensively in the vague terrors of a dreaded in-
vasion. As usual, England was quite unprepared for
war. She was so deficient in men for her own protec-
tion that she was forced to send for the Hanoverian and
Hessian troops, due by treaty if necessary for self-
defence ; while in the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and
Minorca were in a very neglected condition. France
took quick advantage of English remissness. In April
a fleet sailed from Toulon and made for Mnorca. The
French landed at Port Mahon; and for a month such
garrison as there was resisted them as Avell as it could,
till Admiral Byng (son of the Byng who had destroyed
the Spanish fleet at Messina) came up with his fleet and
attacked the French cruising off the island. That same
night, May 20, having done nothing effectual against
the enemy, Byng made off for Gibraltar, and left the
garrison unhelped. Still for more than a month it held
out ; but before the end of June could resist no longer,
and the war opened for England with the loss of
Minorca.

The indignation caused by this unhappy news was
very great, and Newcastle was soon in the midst of

844 LOBD CABTEBET

another political crisis. Parliament had ended in June
1756, while the Minorca question was still nominally
undecided. The place of Lord Chief Justice, the object
of Murray's ambition, was already vacant, and New-
castle's parliamentary difficulties began afresh when
Murray, in spite of almost boundless bribes, refused to
sit another session in the House of Commons. He
would be Lord Chief Justice or nothing ; the Crown, he
said, could not give him an equivalent for the post he
desired. A still more severe blow from the House of
Commons came from Fox. The new Secretary of State
had held his office for less than eight months, but he
had already begun to find little satisfaction in it. New-
castle treated him badly ; the King, pleased at first, had
become cold and dissatisfied. ' His majesty,' wrote Fox
at the close of the session, ' is, from being excessively
pleased, become discontent with me, and cold, not to
say very cold, to me.' ^ To stand up in the House of
Commons single-handed against Pitt, and defend the
so-called poHcy and apologise for the blunders of a
minister who treated him rather as an enemy than a
colleague, was not work for which Fox felt inchned ;
and in October he informed Newcastle that he intended
to resign. Once more GranviUe was called in to
arrange things for Fox, though Granville did not
altogether approve of the resignation. On October 15
he took to the King a letter from Fox. He had behaved
to Newcastle, Fox wrote, as well as he was able, yet he
Avas not supported ; his credit in the House of Commons
was accordingly diminished, and he could not carry on
the business any longer. Newcastle was negotiating
Avith Pitt ; let Pitt become Secretary of State, and Fox

1 Fox to Sir C. IT. Williams ; May iTi, 1756. Add. MSS. 9,19G ; fcl.

100.

LAST YEABS 845

would willingly make room for him. With this letter
Granville Avent to the King. The account of the inter-
view must be given by Horace Walpole : —

' When Granville arrived with this letter at Ken-
sington, he said, " I suppose your majesty knows what
I am bringing." " Yes," replied the King, " and I
dare say you disapproved and dissuaded it." "Yes,
indeed. Sir," said he (as he repeated the dialogue him-
self to Fox : " And why did you say so ? " asked Fox.
" Oh ! " said he, shuffling it off with a laugh, " you know
one must, one must").^ The King, whom Newcastle
had just left, seemed much irritated against Fox, talked
of his ingratitude and ambition, quoted the friends of
Fox that he had preferred . . . and when he had
vented his anger against Fox, he abruptly asked Lord
Granville: "Would you advise me to take Pitt.'^"
" Sir," said he, " you must take somebody." " What ! "
cried the King, " would you bear Pitt over you ? "
" While I am your majesty's President," replied the
Earl, " nobody will be over me." The King then abused
Lord Temple much ; and at last broke forth the secret
of his heart. " I am sure," said he, " Pitt will not do
1111/ basiuess." " You know," said Lord Granville to
Fox, " what jjii/ hiLsiiiess meant : — Hanover." The
supposition did honour to Pitt — but it seems the King
did not know him."'^

Granville reported the result of the interview to
Newcastle as well as to Fox. ' Lord Granville told
me,' wrote Newcastle to his monitor Hardwicke, ' that

' There was no dissimulation on Granville's part. He did not approve
of Fox's resignation. See Newcastle's letter, p. .340, where Granville says
that he will ' still endeavour to make him [Fox] alter his mind ; ' and also
his conversation with Fox after the resignation was accomplished.

- Horace Walpole's Last Ten Years of the JReign of Oeorye II., IT.
80, 90.

34G LOBD CABTERET

he found the King Avas so angry with Fox that he had
rather have anybody than him. The King underhned
the paper, in Lord Granville's presence, to show him
what part he was offended at. The King told Granville
that he had done too much for Fox . . . and then
ordered my Lord Granville to tell Fox that he was
much offended at this step, and that he would have him
appeal to his own conscience whether he had done
right in these circumstances. 'Mj Lord Granville told
me he should carry the answer immediately, that he
should not repeat the strong things which the King
said, that he would do no hurt, that he would still
endeavour to make him alter his mind, if it was only
for one session. But this makes it absolutely necessary
not to lose a moment in applying to ]^Ir. Pitt.' ^

Fox could not alter his mind. On October 18 he
had his parting audience with the King, who was calm
and serious, said Fox, full of anger, but determined not
to show it. From the King Fox went to Granville, and
received a rebuke which he had probably not expected.
He was beginning the catalogue of his complaints with
an affected declaration that he had no ambition and,
after all, did not very much care, when Granville, ' that
shrewd jolly man,' as Horace Walpole calls him, inter-
rupted these fluent professions of indifference. ' Fox,'
said Granville, ' I don't love to have you say things
that will not be believed. If you was of my age
[Granville was now sixty-six], very well; I have put
on my night-cap ; there is no more day-hght for me —
but you should be ambitious. I want to instil a noble
ambition into jou ; to make you knock the heads of
the Kings of Europe together, and jumble something

' Xewcaitle to Ilardwicke ; Oct. 15, 1750. Harris' Sardicicke, III.

LAST YEABS 317

out of it tliat may be of service to this country.' ^ But
to appeals of this kind Fox was deaf.

Newcastle was indeed in a distressing case. Murray
had left him, Fox had left him, and now that these two
were gone there was not a man in the House of Com-
mons who had courage to look Pitt in the face. In his
fright and anxiety for self-preservation, Newcastle had
already recognised the necessity of securing Pitt. He
had been scheming for this even before Fox's resigna-
tion ; he became painfully eager for it when it was clear
that Fox would certainly go. But when he sounded
Pitt he got a blank refusal. As Granville had answered
Newcastle's proposals with the bitter retort that he was
not competent to be First Minister, so now Pitt severely
replied that he could never presume to be the associate
of so experienced a statesman as Newcastle. Pitt was
resolved to join no ministry of which Newcastle was
the head. Newcastle began to think that it was a very
wicked world. It is amusing to hsten to the querulous
asseverations which he lavished on Hardwicke, protest-
ing his own innocence so often that at last he came to
believe it, and full of an open-eyed astonishment that
the political world could venture to exist in a manner
which was unsatisfactory to him. He felt himself the
cruelly treated centre of a deeply tragic performance.
' A consciousness of my own innocence, and an indiifer-
ence as to my own situation may, and I hope in God
will, support me against all the wickedness and ingra-
titude which I meet with. . . . My dearest, dearest
lord, you know, you see, how cruelly I am treated, and
indeed persecuted by all those who now surround the
King.' "^ It does not seem to have occurred to him

' H. A^'alpole's Last Ten Years, II. 68.

" Newcastle to Hardwicke, Oct.' and Nov. 1756. Harris' Hardioicke,
III. 80-81'.

348 LORD CABTEBET

that, as he and his management were an unrelieved
failure, his straightforward course was to resign.
Straightforward things never did occur to him. Eather
than resign, he was willing, since all his other attempts
had failed, to humiliate himself once more before the
dreaded Granville. When Pitt refused assistance,
Xewcastle hastened to Granville, and implored him to
exchange places with him and become Prime Minister.
Granville, old, and in poor health, knew far better than
to quit his dignified, position and spoil the last few
years of his life for the personal convenience of the
Duke of Xewcastle. ' I thought,' he said in his homely
style, ' I had cured you of such offers last year. I will
be hanged a httle before I take your place, rather than
a httle after.' ^ If Granville had cared, which he never
did, for personal revenge, he might have had his feelings
of triumph . The false and foohsh politician, who had
intrigued against him and driven him from power, had
now a second time gone down on his knees to him,
begging him to take the highest post, and had been
twice refused. Xewcastle could do no more. Deserted
by Fox, scorned by Pitt, contemptuously let alone by
Granville, he could chng , to power no longer. On
November 11 he unwillingly resigned.

All necessary arrangements had already been made.
The King had first desired that Pitt and Pox sliould
sink past differences and join in one administration.
But Pitt refused to act with Fox. The Duke of Devon-
shire, to whom the King then appealed, attempted a
reconcihation, but found Pitt inflexible. The King
complained bitterly of what he called the insolent way
in which Pitt treated him, and lamented, as he Avell
might, the miserable condition of pubhc affairs. But

' Last Ten Tears, 11. r^l . h^.

LAST YEABS 349

the distressing confusion only made Pitt's assistance
more tlian ever desirable, and one last effort was made
to obtain it. It was resolved to draw up in writing a
scheme of administration and policy, and to ask Pitt to
accept that scheme and join the Government of the
Duke of Devonshire ; if, after all, he refused, a Govern-
ment must then be formed without him. On November 2,
Granville, who had himself composed the document,
presented it to the King. It was a short paper, but
' replete with good sense ; ' ^ and the offers which it
made were such that Pitt could not with any show of
reason refuse them. He agreed, therefore, to become
Secretary of State in the Government of which the Duke
of Devonshire was the nominal head.

Innocent onlookers might have supposed that now,
at the end of 1756, the long political crisis was at
last over. Cynics with a turn for prophecy might have
safely asserted that the real crisis was only just begin-
ning. When Parliament met in December, the House
of Lords, against the opinion of Pitt's brother-in-law.
Temple, thanked the King for the presence of his
Electoral troops from Hanover. Pitt in the height of
the invasion panic had opposed the demand for these
troops, and the address of the House of Commons
offered no congratulations on the subject. The King,
encouraged by the action of the Lords, insisted that
the Commons should take back their address and insert
a corresponding paragraph. Pitt, who did not go
through the formahties of accepting office till December
4, two days after the meeting of parhament, at once
let it be understood that he would not accept the seals
if the King attempted anything of the kind. At this
point Granville struck into the dispute, and persuaded

' Duke of Bedford to his Duchess; jSTov. 2, 1750. Lord J. Eussell's
Bedford Correspondence, II. 208.

350 LOBD CARTEBET

the King to give way. Even before this the King had
shown his dissatisfaction. The royal speech was Pitt's
work, and George dishked it. In private conversation
he did not care to conceal his sentiments. An adven-
turous printer had pubhshed a spurious speech, and was
to be punished for so great a breach of privilege. The
King, when he heard of it, hoped that the punishment
would be of the very slightest description ; for he had
read both speeches, and said that, as far as he under-
stood either of them, he liked the forged one better
than his own. In addition to this discontent on pub-
he grounds, the King soon conceived a personal irrita-
tion against Pitt and Temple. They did not manage
their official intercourse with him in the prompt busi-
ness manner which he liked, and wearied him with
rhetoric and long speeches. Pitt, indeed, had few
opportunities of personally offending, for gout kept him
much away from Court and Council. When he did
appear in the Cabinet, his haughty mind, harassed by a
sick body, produced such wild and impracticable
schemes that Granville, who thoroughly recognised
Pitt's powers, said once after a Council-meeting : ' Pitt
used to call me madman, but I never was half so mad
as he is.' Little, however, as he saw of the Secretary,
George in the early spring of 1757 had had quite enough
of him, while he found Temple positively unbearable.
A disagreeable fellow, the King called Temple ; pert and
insolent when he attempted to argue, and exceedingly
troublesome when he meant to be civil. In his exagger-
ating way, the King was soon declaring that he was
in the hands of scoundrel?, and would endure their
insolence no longer. These royal phrases were more
than mere irritated rhetoric. Early in April 1757
the Kincr ordered Pitt to resign.

LAST YEABS 851

For eleven weeks England was without a settled
Government. Before actually dismissing Pitt, the King
in his angry distress had sounded Newcastle. The
Duke was eager enough to return to power, but he
was terribly afraid of the political difficulties of the
time, and he dreaded the resentment of Pitt. He was
so irresolute and changeable that the King's patience
was completely exhausted, and he turned to Fox. But
the plan which Fox drew up came to nothing, and
when Pitt was dismissed there was no one ready to
succeed him. Whilst freedoms and gold boxes innumer-
able were being lavished on the fallen Secretary, the
sovereign was in a deplorable condition, and statesmen
were busily devising fantastic combinations which fell
to pieces before they could be completed. Newcastle
attempted to gain over Pitt, and Pitt contemptuously
refused to have anything to do with him. The Duke
solemnly declared that he would never again dream
of Pitt as a colleague ; and a few days afterwards was
importuning him more than ever. Pitt, swallowing his
contempt, this time agreed. The King then reappeared
on the scene, and, having given Newcastle permission
to treat with Pitt, refused the plan which the two
had drawn up. Newcastle testily retorted that now he
would not act at all without Pitt ; the King sulked, and
declared that he was very badly used. So the confused
scene changed to worse confusion every da}^ At last a
little light seemed to break when Waldegrave, the King's
personal friend, undertook, though reluctantly, the for-
mation of a Government. He made some progress,
although Fox, who was to be a leading member, did
not seem very confident of success. But Granville en-
couraged them : —

' However we were somewhat animated by Lord

352 LOBD GABTEBET

Granville, who assured us, in his lively manner, that
we could not fail of success. That the whole force of
Government was now firmly united ; Army, Kavy, Trea-
sury, Church, and all their subordinate branches. That
though volunteers did not come in so fast as had been
expected, we had the whole summer before us to raise
recruits : and though of late years ministers did not
think themselves safe without a majority in the House
of Commons of 150 or 200, he remembered the time
when twenty or thirty were thought more than suffi-
cient.'^

This arrangement under Pox and Waldegrave might
possibly have worked ; Newcastle evidently feared that
it would. A Government concerning which his opinion
had not been asked, and from which he was himself
excluded, was on the point of completion. If intrigue
could do anything, Newcastle was resolved that such a
settlement should go no further. Eemembering his
successful tactics of more than ten years ago, he
secretly worked upon Lord Holderness, the cypher
Secretary of State, and persuaded him to resign. The
King too remembered what had followed Harrington's
retirement ; and though he accepted Holderness's resig-
nation with angry dignity, he declined to enter upon a
hopeless contest. Other resignations would be sure to
follow, he dispiritedly complained ; almost everybody
was abandoning him. Richard, mon Roi ! He
refused to put Waldegrave and Fox, who were trying
to serve him, to any further useless trouble, and agreed
to accept any arrangement which Newcastle and his
'footmen' could make with Pitt. Each side having
been convinced of its need of the other, an accommoda-
tion was not difficult. To Newcastle, with the title of

' Lord Waldegrave's Memoirs, p. 122.

LAST YEABS 35S

Prime Minister, Pitt very Avillingly left the whole
department of patronage and corruption ; while Pitt
himself, at the end of June, received back the seals as
Secretary of State, and with them the practical direction
of the policy of the Government.

The story of the Seven Years' War belongs, as far
as English political history is concerned, to the life of
Pitt. Party politics seemed to have fallen dead. Parlia-
ment met to vote subsidies to Frederick and to sanction
the requirements of Pitt ; otherwise it had nothing to
find fault with, and nothing to do. Everything was
managed by seven or eight of the leading members of
the administration, who formed a small governing body
wliich Granville called the Conciliabulum. In this little
council, Pitt and Hardwicke, Granville and Newcastle,
met on friendly terms ; always meaning to agree, wrote
their Secretary at War, who was not one of the privileged
number, or, if they differed, differing amicably. ' I never,'
writes War Secretary Lord Barrington, 'remember the
country so much united in its politics, or in such good
humour with its ministers. . . . The Duke of Newcastle,
Lord President, Lord Hardwicke, Lord Mansfield, the
two Secretaries of State, and Lord Anson form what Lord
Granville calls the Concilialmlum. They meet continu-
ally, and their opinion is the advice given to the King.
They always mean to agree, and if they differ, thej'
differ amicably. I am convinced at present there is
not a man among them Avho wishes ill to the others,
and who is not persuaded that any rupture, or even
ill-will, would be a misfortune to himself'-^ Lord
Slielburne's testimon}' on this point is indisputable.
' I have heard Lord Chatham say,' Shelburne writes,

' Barrington to Sir Audrew Mitchell ; Dec. 11,170". Add. 51SS. 6,801 ;
lol. 11-14.

A A

854 LORD CABTERET

' they were the most agreeable conversations he ever
experienced ' : —

' The war produced a strong Council and a strong
Government. The Cabinet Council was composed of the
Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Pitt, Secretary of State, Lord
Keeper Henley, Lord Hardwicke, Lord Mansfield, Lord
Granville, Lord Holdernesse, Lord Anson, and Lord
Ligonier. There were no party politics, and conse-
quently no difference of opinion. I have heard Lord
Chatham say they were the most agreeable conversations
he ever experienced. The Duke of Xewcastle, a very
good-humoured man, Avas abundantly content with the
whole patronage being left to him. . . . Lord Hardwicke
. . . was kept in order by Lord Granville's wit, who
took advantage of the meeting of the balance of all
parties to pay off old scores, and to return all that
he owed to the Pelhams and the Yorkes. He had a
rooted aversion to Lord Hardwicke and to all his
family, I don't precisely know for what reason, but he
got the secret of cowing Lord Hardwicke, whose pre-
tensions to classical learning gave Lord Granville, who
really was a very fine classical scholar, a great oppor-
tunity. To this was added his knowledge of civil law,
in which Lord Hardwicke was deficient, and, above all,
his wit ; but whatever way he got the key, he used it
on all occasions unmercifully. In one of the short-lived
administrations at the commencement of the war. Lord
Granville, who had generally dined, turned round to say,
' I am thinking that all over Europe they are waiting
our determination and canvassing our characters. The
Duke of Xe\vcastle, they'll say, is a man of great fortune,
who has spent a great deal of it in support of the pre-
sent family. Fox, they'll say, is an impudent fellow who
has fought his way here through the House of Com-

LAST YEABS 355

mons ; as for me, they know me throughout Europe,
they know my talents and my character ; but I am
thinking they will all be asking, Qui est ce diable de
Chancelier 1 How came he here ? '^

The nation was as singularly harmonious as tlie
Cabinet, proud of the victories which were being won
in three continents, and of the great minister who in-
spired them. So the last three years of George II. 's
reign passed away in political quiet and satisfaction.
But with the death of the old King, whose sad ministerial
troubles had ended so happily after all, there came a
very great change. An uneducated, inexperienced, nar-
row-minded young Prince succeeded to the throne, and
the policj' of his mother and her favourite was not the
policy of Pitt. Their first anxious determination was to
get rid of the minister ; their second, to end the war.
In order that a German Princess might see carried out
in England the political principles which were the pride
of the most absurdly insignificant German Courts, Pitt
himself Avas to be dismissed, and his great work Avas to
be hacked and botched by an almost unknown Scotch
peer of the Court groom species, distinguished for
nothing but his fine legs and his turn for the amateur
stage. Bute, indeed, looked terribly Avise, and had a
great deal of pompous mystery about him ; he liked to
be in solemn solitariness, and when he was minister
always went down the back stairs at Court. He had as
much classical learning as he could pick out of a Prench
translation, and he kncAv what history could be learned
from tragedies. But there he stopped. On the side of
public affairs, his sole qualification for attempting to
direct political events that concerned three continents

' Fitzmaurice's Shelburne, 1. 85-87.

A A 2

350 LORD CABTEBET

was the fact that he had lived for many years in
the Hebrides.

Bute's proceedings were not long delayed. In March
1761, having removed from the Government men whose
opinions were likely to be in the way, and having filled
their places with others who could be trusted to do
precisely what the new King and Court desired them to
do, Bute made himself Secretary of State. Pitt still
remained, holding his post with great loyalty, though
the desio-ns of the Court against him were only too
clear. He was even perfectly wilhng to make peace
with France if he could obtain duly satisfactory terms.
France in her very low condition desired nothing better
than to be out of the war altogether, and especially to
settle her English quarrel, which lay quite apart from
the main continental question. In the same month in
which Bute introduced himself into the Government,
the Due de Choiseul attempted negotiations with Pitt.
On April 5 Granville wrote to Pitt : —

' Lord Granville presents his compliruents to ilr.
Pitt, and thanks him for the communication of his
answer to the Due de Choiseul, together with the draught
of the memorial.'

Then Gran\'ille continues in the first person : —

' Xeither of these draughts can, in my judgment, be
mended ; and when this great afiair comes out into the
world, every person of candour will agree to impute
the happy setting out of this great affair, as well as the
success of it. which God grant, to the right author ; whose
spirit, and perseverance, and judgment, under some dis-
couragements, to my own knowledge have produced
this salutary WDrk. Ever yours,

' Geaxville.' ^

' Chatham Corrr:!<p'.ii'h lUje, II. 113,114.

LAST YEAUS ;H;j7

Early in June an English agent arrived at Paris,
and a French one came to London, to conduct the nego-
tiations. Pitt's terms Avere very high. Fresh victories
were still improving his position, and he was not in-
chned to yield a single advantage which he had gained.
He had taken Belleisle and made new conquests in the
East and West Indies while the peace negotiations were
in progress ; and on any concession to France in the
Canada and Newfoundland region he was inexorable.
' Not the breadth of a blanket,' he privately said, when De
Choiseul urged some small footing for the French fisher-
men in Newfoundland waters. Yet still there seemed
some probability that France would accept the English
conditions. The offers of France were undoubtedly
large. The Duke of Bedford, who was soon to take a
not very creditable part in the final arrangements, says
that in July Granville considered the agreement which
the French seemed wilHng to make more advantageous
to England than any ever concluded with France since
the time of Henry Y} But Pitt was already seriously
suspicious that there was something hidden behind
Choiseul's proposals. On July 15, France dragged Spain
into the negotiations, suggesting that King Carlos might
mediate between France and England. Pitt indignantly
refused to allow Spain any voice in the question. The
meetings of the Coiic'iUabuluni became very animated.
Horace Walpole reports one in August, when Pitt pro-
duced, at the request of the Council, a draught of the
final concessions which could be offered to France. The
ministers thought the document drawn i-ather too much
in the style of an ultimatum ; Granville thought its fine
phrases too rhetorical for a paper on business of state.
' Lord Granville took the draught, and a})plauded it

' Lord John Russell's Bedford Correspondence, III. 20.

358 LORD CABTERET

esceedingly , said it deserved to be inserted in the Acta
Regia ; but for his part he did not love fine letters on
business.' With humorous and good-natured exaggera-
tion Granville added that he thought in negotiations
bad Latin was better than good. This not very severe
criticism produced an excited outburst from Pitt. Not
an iota of his letter should be altered, he said. Bussy,
tlie French negotiator, had had some communications
Avith Granville. ' I understand from Bussy ' — began
Granville, when Pitt interrupted : 'From Bussy? nor you,
nor any of you shall treat with Bussy : nobody shall but
myseK.' ^ But at the next meeting Pitt was more moder-
ate, and admitted some small modifications. The nego-
tiations, however, such as they were, came soon to an
abrupt close. On August 1-5, 1761, there was signed
between France and Spain a Family Compact, which
plainly meant that Spain Avould join France in the
war against England. Pitt received early and secret
information. Clearly understanding the meaning of
the news, and seeing that Spain wa> only awaiting a
favourable opportunity for declaring war, Pitt resolved
to forestall her in that. On September 18 he informed
the Council of this private Bourbon aUiance, and pro-
posed immediate war with Spain. Granville desired time
to consider so important a step. A second meeting was
held, from which Granville was aljsent. and at which no
resolution was taken. On October 2 the Council held
a third and very important meeting. Pitt spoke with
strong feeling, and said that if his advice were rejected
he would not sit in that Council again. Lord after Lord
delivered his opinion (except Pitt himself there was not
a Commoner in the Cabinet), Granville, Devonshire,
Hardwicke, Newcastle, Anson, Ligonier, Mansfield, Bute,

' H. Walpole's .Vfmji'rs of George III., I. GS, 69.

LAST YEARS 359

and not one of them supported Pitt's proposal. Except
for his brother-in-law Temple, Pitt stood absolutely
alone. He virtually resigned. It fell to Granville, as
President of the Council, to speak in the name of the
Cabinet on this occasion. The very imperfect accounts
that remain give curiously discrepant reports of the
language which Granville is said to have employed.
But even without other direct evidence which fortunately
exists on this matter, no one well acquainted with
Granville's career and character could believe that
he spoke the words which are put into his mouth by
the enemies of Pitt. If this account^ were to be be-
lieved, Granville addressed Pitt in a very contemptuous
manner : —

' I find,' says this report, ' that the gentleman is
determined to leave us, nor can I say that I am sorry
for it, for otherwise he would have compelled us to
leave him ; but if he be resolved to assume the right
of advising his majesty, and directing the operations
of the war, for what purpose are we called to Council ?
When he talks of being responsible to the people, he
talks the language of the House of Commons, and for-
gets that at this board he is only responsible to the King.
However, although he may possibly have convinced
himself of his infalUbiUty, it remains that we also should
be equally convinced, before we resign our understand-
ings to his direction, or join with him in the measure
which he proposes.'

' I am sorry old Carteret should have ended so ! '
laments Carl}de. It is very certain that old Carteret

' It originally appeared in the Annual Register for 1761, pp. 43, 44, and
•was adopted by the Rev. Francis Thackeray in his distressiufr Life of Pitt.
Unfortunately, Carlyle followed Thackeray in this instance (Frederick,liook
XX. Ohap. X.), and so has given currency to what might otherwise have
been contemptuously rejected.

360 LOBD CARTERET

did not at all end so. Instead of scornfuU}' sneering at
Pitt's infallibility and openly exulting over his departure
from the ministry, Granville expressed in the most em-
phatic way his admiration for Pitt and his regret for his
resignation. The various historical chroniclers admit
that there is this other version ; but apart from this
the whole point is cleared up in the simplest and most
satisfactory of ways. Granville himself repeatedly
denied that he had ever used the language which this
forged speech ascribed to him ; and a contradiction and
explanation appeared in print in 1763, a few months
after Granville's death. Almon, the bookseller, a great
admirer of Pitt, wrote in 1763 a 'Review of Lord
Bute's Administration,' and its first pages, printed before
Bute actually resigned, tell the story of this spurious
speech ; —

• After Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple had taken their
leaves of the third and last Council summoned to dehber-
ate ontlie conduct of Spain, the late Earl Granville, then
Lord President, ro~e up to speak. Upcjn this occa-
sion those ministerial tools ""supporters of Bute! already
refuted, framed a speech out of their own heads, and
printed it ai the genuine one of Lord Gran\-ille's. The
world read thi- invented speech no doubt with astonish-
ment; but hi- lordship, in order to do justice to himself,
several times declared that there was not even one word
of truth in that spurious production ; that so far from
its containing any oi hiv sentimeiits, it was just the con-
trarv ; for at that time he expres-ed(in liis own nervou-
and manly eloquence) Ins very high opinion of ^h. Pitt's
wisdom, penetration, abilities, honour, and iategrity,
and in a very particular and mn-t emphatical manner
-poke of the innumerable and almost insurmountable
difiicultie- which Mr. Pitt and Lord Temple had had

LAST YEABS 801

to struggle with.' ^ These words precisely correspond
with those used by Granville in his letter to Pitt already
quoted. Internal evidence would of itself have been
sufficient. Granville did not at the very end of his life
lose the courtesy and high spirit which had distinguished
him from the besinninff.

Pitt resigned office on October 5. Within three
months his policy was clearly justified by the English
declaration of war against Spain. Granville, in a
divided Cabinet, was one of the advocates for war. The
English successes in 1762 were very brilliant, but of no
personal service to Bute, for they were rightly ascribed
to the preparations and policy of Pitt. They were
rather an embarrassment to the unpopular Secretary of
State ; for they did not increase the chances of a speedy
peace, and Bute was bent on ending the struggle. He
managed to make a considerable advance towards his
object when he appointed himself Premier in May.
Newcastle, persistently slighted by Bute and the young
King, resigned in disgust, and Bute appropriated the
highest place. He used his greater power to press the
policy which he had been attempting to carry out even
while Pitt was still in the Cabinet. From the party of
the Whigs he had gained over, among others, the Duke of
Bedford. To him Bute entrusted the negotiations with
France, and in November preliminaries were signed.
Bedford's own eagerness for peace was so great that
he was willing to agree to worse terms than even Bute
himself Bedford regretted the English victories of
1761 ; he desired to abandon Frederick entirely; he
would have let Spain recover Havana for nothing. The
chief matter for wonder is that the peace, in the hands of
a negotiator of this stamp, was so very advantageous as

' Almon's Beview of Lord Bute's Administration, pp. 7,8.

'"''52 LOBD CAIiTEBET

it really was. Its treatment of Frederick was by no
means chivalrous ; its absurd disregard of valuable con-
quests which England was making while the negotiations
were still in progress was inexcusably careless; but
otherwise it was a peace extremely favourable to Eng-
land, though some concessions were admitted which
Pitt would have refused. Pitt would have done his
Ijest to utterly ruin France as a commercial and naval
power. The actual settlement made by Bute was pro-
baljly wiser in pohcy ; though Bute's action rested on
vindictive hatred of the great statesman and on a
shameful want of patriotic feeling. The peace in itself
was nationally advantageous, but personally disgraceful
to the minister who negotiated it.

But Bute's eagerness for peace was not shared by the
country, which Avas proud of what it had done, and
ashamed of deserting Frederick. Pitt's popularity, lost
for a moment when, on his resignation, his wife became
Baroness Chatham and he himself accepted a pension,
had almost instantly returned, while Bute was the most
unpopular man in the kingdom. If then the Court
party hoped to consummate its pohcy by obtaining
parhamentary approval of the peace, parHament must
in some way be prevented from reflecting what was
evidentlv the feehng of the nation. To assist him in
this degrading jobbery, Bute found a willing tool in
Fox, whose passion for money-making had already sunk
him very low in his office of Paymaster. Bribed by a
seat in the Cabinet, and the promise of a peerage, Fox
undertook to secure a majority for the peace. When
parliament met in Xovember 1702 it was evident that
he had kept his Avord. In the Lords, Bute was in no
danger ; in the Cominrins, Fox's briljes had carried all
before them. The only opposition worth speaking of

LAST YEABS 3G3

came from Pitt, who, though very ill and permitted to
sit during the greater part of his speech, opposed the
peace in a harangue of three hours and a half. A
majority of five to one approved the negotiations, and
the Court triumphed.

Meanwhile Granville was dying. For the last three
or four years he had been slowly but visibly declining.
Yet his spirits remained unbroken, and his interest in
men and affairs undiminished. ' Lord Granville,' wrote
his friend. Lord Hyde, to Sir Andrew Mitchell at Berlin,
' is much as he was as to spirits and dignity, at least
to us, who see him daily and partially. Perhaps you
would perceive that time had made its impression and
lessened both. We often talk you over and wish for
the stories we are to have when you return.' ^ This
was eighteen months before Granville's death ; he and
Hyde never had Mitchell's stories of the war and Fred-
erick. In May 1762 Horace Walpole told Mann that
Granville was much broken. In December Chesterfield
at Bath heard that Granville was dying. ' When he
dies,' wrote Chesterfield, ' the ablest head in England
dies too, take it for all in all.' Granville was b}' this
time so far gone that his best friends could not desire
the lengthening of his life. ' He was almost bent double,
worn to a skeleton, quite lost the use of his legs, and
spent the best part of the day in dozing.' - But he
gave a most characteristic illustration of the old Car-
teret high spirit, culture, and patriotism when he was
actually on his death-bed. Eobert AVood, author of an
Essay on The Orii^/iiial Genius of Homer, which inter-
ested Goethe in his younger days, was Under Secretary
of State in the closing period of the Seven Years' War,

1 Bisset's Memoirs of Sir A. Mitchell, I. 156. June 27, 17G1.
' Add. MSS. 30,099; fol, 16.

B04 LORD CAETERET

and frequently had interviews on business with Granville.
The occasions were few, says Wood, on which Granville,
after giving his commands on state affairs, did not
turn the conversation to Greece and Homer. A few
days before Granville died, Wood was ordered to wait
upon him with the preliminary articles of the Peace
of Paris. ' I found him,' writes Wood in the Intro-
duction to his Essay, ' so languid that I proposed post-
poning my business for another time ; but he insisted
that I should stay, saying it could not prolong his hfe
to neglect his duty ; and repeating the following passage
out of Sarpedon's speech, he dwelled with particular
emphasis on the third line, which recalled to his mind
the distinguished part he had taken in public affairs : —

O irsirov, si fisv lyap iroKsfiov Trspl tovBs (pvyovTsi
alsl Srj ^iXKoifisv wyripai t dOavdro) rs
hacTea6\ ovtb kev avros svl irpwTOLcn p.w^^ol/j.rjv
ovTS Ks as aTsX\oi/j,i /jid'^'ijv is KvBidvsipav
vvv 8' (s/u,7r7]s rydp Krjpss icpscTTaaiv Oavdroio
jjivpiai, as ovK sari (pvyslv ^porov ovS' inrakv^ai)

lOflSV.^

' His lordship repeated the last word several times
with a calm and determined resignation ; and after a
serious pause of some minutes, he desired to hear the
treaty read, to which he listened with great attention,
and recovered spirits enough to declare the approbation
of a dying statesman (I use his own words) " on the
most glorious war and most honourable peace this
nation ever saw.'' ' -

This was the last scene. Granville, aged seventy-

■ Iliad XII. 3-'2-328.

^ "\\'ocd's Essay, p. u n. (Ed. 1>:24). Mattliew Arnold, On Translating
IIunir,-,-p. 18, quotes tbis last episode in Granville't life a.s ' exliiljiting the
English aristocracy at its vtiT height of culture, loft)- .'Spirit, and gieatness.'

LAST YEABS 305

three, died on January 2, 1763. 'He died at Bath,
previous to which he was dehrious, and imagined him-
self in tlie other world, where, meeting an old Clerk of
the House of Commons, he gave him an account of all
that had happened in the interval between their deaths
with infinite wit, accuracy, and humour, insomuch that
it was a pity it was not taken down.' ^ He was buried
among his ancestors in "Westminster Abbey. One may
regret the loss of the last flashes of Granville's wit and
humour ; but his quotation of Sarpedon's words to
Glaucus formed a more fitting close to his life than the
wittiest of parhamentary gossip. ' For if, escaping the
present combat, we might be for ever undecaying and
immortal, neither would I myself fight among the fore-
most nor would I urge you on to the glorious battle ;
but now — for a thousand fates of death stand close to
us always, and no mortal can escape or evade them —
let us go.'

' Lord Shelburne's Autobioyraphy. Granville did not die at Bath, but
at his own house in Arlington Street.

366 LORD CABTEEET

CHAPTEE X.

PRIVATE LIFE ; PERSOXAL CHARACTERISTICS.

Lr the mid.-t of the busy excitement of the life of a
political leader, one of Carteret's frequent phrases was :
' I love my fireside.' When he became practically
Prime Minister, Carteret had refused to attend thej/reat
political gathering at the Fountain on the plea that
he never dined at a tavern. His private life v^as
an exceed ini/l J" happy one ; and, in spite of the coarse
licence which much of the political criticism of liLs day
allowed itself, the most unscrupulous enemy found it
impossible to employ against Carteret the satirical
abuse or malicious hbelling to which the notorious
lives of too many eighteenth-century politicians so
easily expo-ed them. Svvift, who had no foible of
unduly flattering the great, in 1724 dedicated a poem
to Carteret as ' Manly Virtue ' per-onified. Carteret
had married almost immediately after leaving the
University ; and Sv.-ift humorously apologise- for the
fact that ' durir,g the prime of youth, spirits, and vigour,
he has in a most exemplary manner led a regular
domestic hfe ; discover- a great esteem and friendship
and love for his lady, as well a- true affection for his
children.' His house was exceedingly ho-pitable; his
familv was nuinerou-, and their alliances splendid and
prosperous. Speaking once in one of the innumerable
debates on the Hanoverian troops, Carteret said : —

PRIVATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHABACTEPJSTICS 367

' I hope it cannot be suspected of me that I prefer
any mterest to that of my native country, in which I
hazard too much not to wish its prosperity ; for I am
alhed, my lords, to most of the principal houses in the
kingdom, and can number a very great part of this
august assembly among my relations.'

Swift, writing on the occasion of the marriage of
one of Carteret's daughters, said that he thought Carte-
ret the happiest man in all circumstances of life that
he had ever known ; and Pelham held that if Carteret
could make as good foreign alliances for his country as
he had made domestic settlements for his family, he
would be the ablest minister that England had ever
had.

The head of the Carteret family till Carteret himself
■was fifty-four years old was his mother, Grace, Vis-
countess Carteret and Countess Granville. She was the
youngest daugliter of Sir John Granville, Earl of Bath.
Her husband George, Baron Carteret, died in 1605, and
she survived him for half a century, but did not marry
again. She lived to be ninety, dying on the same day
(October 18, 1744) as old Sarah of Marlborough. She
seems to have had much force and decisiveness of
character, and a frank, even sharp plain-spokenness
which keenly sensitive persons found rather trying. It
was perhaps from her that Carteret inherited the homely
directness and idiomatic force which marked his pri-
vate conversation and were not excluded from his
stately parliamentary eloquence. Swift would not like
Countess Granville the less for the plainness of her
speech; and she shared the intimacy with the Dean,
Avhich it seemed a law of nature that every member of
Carteret's household should enjoy. From Hawnes,
Carteret's seat in Bedfordshire, she wrote to Swift

oO« LOUD CABTEEET

in the early years of her sou's opp(jiitioii to Wal-
pole : —

' Deae Sir, — I have received the honour of your
commands, and shall obey them ; for I am very proud
of your remembrance. I do not know we ever quar-
relled ; but if we did, I am as good a Christian as you
are, — in perfect charity Avith you. My son, my daugh-
ter, and all our olive-branches salute you most tenderly.
.... Will you never come into England, and make
Hawnes your road ? Tou will find nothing here to
offend you, for I am a hermit and live in my chimney-
corner, and have no ambition but that you will believe
' I am the charming Dean's

'Most obedient, humble servant,

' Granville.' ^

Though the old Countess here calls herself a hermit
of the chimney-corner, she and her somewhat imperious
ways were weU known in London society ten years
after the date of this letter. She lived to see her son
practically Prime ]\Iinister of England ; and her proud
satisfaction induced good-humoured observers to speak
of her by the nickname of the Queen-Mother. By less
lenient persons, who dwelt more on the sharpness of her
tongue and manners, she was famiharly alluded to as
the ' Dragon ' ; and pleasant if exaggerated stories of
the vehement impetuosity of old Countess Gran\'ille's
eloquence amused gossipers in a suflBciently innocent
manner. One harmlessly heightened specimen will be
enough. In 174.3. when the Countess was eighty-nine
years old, ]\Irs. Elizabeth Montagu wrote to the Duchess
of Portland : —

' AU the gifts of tongue- bestowed on mankind are

' Swift, Workt, XVIII. 1^4. XoT. 27, 17.30.

PRIVATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHABACTEBISTICS S69

retired to Mr. Finch's, in Savile Eow ; the general voice
lives there in the person of the Countess of GranviUe.
I went there with Mrs. Meadows on Sunday. ... I
wish your Grace had been present ; we had many good
scenes, but the scene of tenderness and sorrow was the
best of all ; she sighed, and tossed, and thumped, and
talked, and blamed, and praised, and hoped, and used
tlie greatest variety of expression, and suffered the
greatest change of temper that ever poor soul did ; most
pathetically did she break out, giving an account of Lady
Carteret's death. " Poor dear Lady Carteret got her
death going abroad with a cold ; for if poor dear Lady
Carteret had a fault — not that I know that poor dear
Lady Carteret had a fault — nay, I believe that poor dear
Lady Carteret had not a fault — but, if she had a fault
it was that she loved to dress and go out too well — you
know poor dear Lady Carteret did love to dress and go
out ; and then, you know, she never spared herself; she
wuidd talk, always talk — but it was to be so ; it was
ordained that she should die abroad." All this ....
and much more .... did she utter in a breath. . . .
I shall resume the thread of her discourse nest winter,
for 1 daresay it will run on as long as the fatal sisters
spin the thread of her life. She asked after your Grace,
and gave a very cordial and friendly hum and thump
of satisfaction upon hearing you was well. The old
woman showed a love for Miss Carteret, which makes
me think she has more goodness than people suspect
lier of.' ^

Indeed, there was a very great deal of goodness and
family affection in the old Countess. In 1743, while
Carteret was with the King in Germany and the battle
of Dettingen was at hand, she wrote : —

' Letters of Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu, II. 25i-255.

B B

370 LOBD CABTEBET

' My Dear Sox, — You are infinitely kind and good
to me in making me easy about Lady Carteret, whose
illness has lain very heavy upon my spirits. I hope
she wiU have no relapse, and that we may have all a
happy meeting in October. I am glad to hear you
design to take your son under your protection, that I
may also see him. I am in great hopes he wOl turn
out a man of business, for there is nothing I detest so
much as an idle feUow. . . . The Duchess of ]\Iarl-
borough has been lately told that there has been a duel
between you and a foreign minister, which report does
not affect me in the least, though I can't help mention-
ing it. Fanny [Carteret's youngest daughter] presents
her most humble duty to you ; she writes a long letter
to her mama .... I beseech Gfod to bless and pre-
serve you in good health, and give you success in all
your undertakings for the honour and glory of your
King and country.

' I am, my dearest son, with gratitude and tenderness,

' Entirely yours,

' (rfiAXVILLE.' ^

The Ijady Carteret referred to in these letters was
Carteret's first wife, Frances, only daughter of Sir
Eobert Worsley and of Frances, daughter of the first
Lord "Weymouth. She was descended, on her mother's
side, from the Earl of Essex, Queen Elizabeth's un-
favoured favourite. Her mother, Lady TVorsley, whom
we have already seen as the intimate friend of Swift,
had been, as Horace Walpole says, ' a beauty and
friend of Pope ' ; and as the living lustre of Lady
Carteret's eves obtained Swift's metrical celebration, so
a verse of Pope's commemorates that of Lady Worsley's.^

' Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 32.416 ; fol. 402. June o, 174.3.
'' S«e Poptb i^pistle to Jercas.

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 371

Frances, the daughter, was born in 1694, and in 1710,
before she was seventeen, she married Carteret at Long-
leat. Like her mother, she was exceedingly beautiful,
and was one of the most brilliant figures at the Courts
of the first and second Georges. Mrs. Delany, who by
birth was one of the Granville family, and rather
vaguely speaks of Lord and Lady Carteret's children
as her ' cousins,' gives repeated proof of Lady Carteret's
supremacy among the beauties of the London world.
Swift said that when she was in Ireland she was hand-
somer than all the young beauties at the Castle Court
taken together ; and even when she was no longer
young, and was surrounded by her own beautiful mar-
ried daughters, the verdict of observers was at times
inclined to be : matre pulc/i ra filia pulchrior. She
was very musical, too, having a fine voice which she
had taken great pains to cultivate, and dehghting in
the operas, oratorios, and concerts which London en-
joyed in the days of Handel. She seems to have had
a kindliness of disposition and an easy agreeableness of
manner which were very attractive. The old Countess
Granville, not the readiest person to please or to be
pleased, said that Lady Carteret was as good as an
angel to her. She had not been many weeks in Dublin
before Dr. William King, the aged Archbishop of
Dublin, was with friendly familiarity spoken of as her
lover. Swift was always her attached friend.

Lord and Lady Carteret were happy in seeing their
children briUiantly established in life. Their eldest
daughter, Lady Grace Carteret, whose beauty as a child
was much rhymed about while Carteret was in Ireland,
married the third Earl of Djsart, and was tlie mother
of the fourth and fifth Earls. Louisa, the second
daughter, married Yiscount Weymouth, and became

BBS

372 LORD CAETERET

mistress of Longleat. Lady Louisa Carteret seems to
have had a large share of the good humour and com-
plaisance of mind and manner that characterised her
father and mother. The third daughter, Georgiana
Carolina, was first married to the Hon. John Spencer,
brother of Charles Duke of Marlborough, and grandson
of the Dowager Duchess. ' Dauc/hters are no burden
to my Lord Carteret,' \vTote Lord Berkeley of Stratton
on the occasion of this marriage. ' It is not the only
instance of his good luck.' Carteret was certainly well
satisfied with the marria;2es of his daughters ; the more
so because they were marriages of affection, for neither
Lord nor Lady Carteret forced the inclinations of their
children. ' Choose a gentlewoman and please yourself,'
was the advice which Carteret once long afterwards
gave to one of his grandsons ; and he followed the same
principle in the case of his own daughters. The prin-
ciple worked well. Eeplyingin 1735 to congratulations
from Swift, Carteret A\Tote : ' If alliances and the
thoughts of prosperity can bind a man to the interests
of his country, I am certainly bound to stand by
liberty.' ' Our cousins are now growing the most con-
siderable people in the kingdom,' wrote ^Irs. Delany
on the occasion of the marriage of the third daughter.
Bv her second marriage, the Hon. Mrs. Spencer became
Countess Cowper.

The marriages of her three eldest daughters took
place during the lifetime of Lady Carteret. In 1743,
when Carteret wa« at the height of his power. Lady
Carteret accompanied liim in liis journey with the King
and the Duke of Cumberland to Hanover. There she
was taken ill ; and George, who was about to leave for
headquarters to fight his battle of Dettingen, offered
that Carteret should not accompany him to the army,

PBIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHABACTEBISTICS 873

but should remain behind at Hanover. Lady Carteret
begged that she might not interrupt Carteret's service
to the King, and indeed she did not seem to be in any-
special danger. But she died in June, soon after the
King and Carteret had left for Aschaffenberg. From that
little town, on the day on which he received the news,
Carteret wrote to his late wife's confidential attendant : — -
' You may easily judge how much I suffer for my
irreparable loss, and I should be distracted if I did not
know that you had been with her, and that she has
been affectionately taken care of by you. If she has
left you any directions for me, I beg I may know
them and I shall punctually and exactl}' obey them. I
entreat you not to leave Hanover till I return, for I
can't be easy without talking to you. I approve of
depositing the dear remains in a vault in a church
till further orders, in such a coffin as is fit for her
quality, and strong to bear carriage. It is a terrible
thing to be forced to write upon such subjects, but
I trust nobody but you, and that there may be no mis-
take I would not write by anybody but myself for
more sureness .... I will keep up my spirits as well
as I can under this great misfortune. I have not
written to my family. I have not seen my son since I
knew this fatal news, which was but this morning.' ^
Lady Carteret's body was brought over to England in
November 1743 in the ship in which Carteret himself
returned; and though then Carteret outwardly appeared
in good spirits, those who knew him thought they were
assumed and outward only. Lady Carteret left behind
her one unmarried daughter. Lady Frances Carteret,
who in 1748 became Marchioness of Tweeddale. Like
all her sisters, Lady Frances was very musical, and like

' Brit. Mus, Add. MSS. 32,-tl6 ; fol. 410. June 1-3-24, 1743.

374 LOBD GABTERET

her father slie was an accomplished linguist. Three
months after her marriage Horace Walpole met her,
and said that she was ' infinitely good-humoured and
good company, and sang a thousand French songs
mighty prettily.' In 1749 the Earl of Morton Avrote of
her to Andrew Mitchell, afterwards the well-known
ambassador to Frederick the Great: 'I saw your
Marquis and his lady at Tester. It is a noble house,
and the lady seems mightily pleased with it and with
the country. She is very merry and easy, and sang
Greek, French, and Scotch songs to me.'^ Mrs.Delauy
thought there was more sentiment in the Marchioness
of Tweeddale than in any other member of the family,
and her own directions for her funeral do not contra-
dict this view. She long survived her husband, and
ordered that she should be buried as near him as
pfissible, wearing her wedding-ring, and with her hus-
band's letters to her in her coffin.

In April 1744 Carteret astonished the London world
by a second marriage. Gossip had been associating
his name with a relative of his own, the Honoiirable
Elizabeth GranvUle, daughter of Pope's friend Lord
Lansdowne. Dai-y, a- her friends called her, was one
of the maids of honour, celebrated for her beauty, and
very affectionately treated by Carteret and all his family.
Some of them indeed thought that Carteret'- kindness
to her was excessive, and that he made too great a
' fuss ' with Daisy. But there was nothing more than
kindness in it. Spec dating gos-ipers. as well as the
worlds of fashion and of politics, experienced the be-
Avildering pleasure of a total surprise when it was
suddenly announced that the leading English minister
wa- to marry the leading Enghsh beauty of the day,

' lJi,3.;t', M,Ul„:U, I. 1.3 n.

PRIVATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHABACTEBISTICS 875

Lady Sophia Fermor, daughter of Lord and Lady
Pomfret.

Lady Pomfret, who, as Boswell could not help
coming from Scotland, could not help being the grand-
daughter of Judge Jeffreys (though on her mother's
side she traced her descent from Edward I), was one
of those well-meaning but fussy, meddlesome, and ter-
ribly inconsequential women of whom it is impossible
for posterity to see anything but the slightl}" ridiculous
side. She had been Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen
Caroline ; and leaving Court in 1737, on the death of
the Queen, went abroad with her husband and family,
arriving at last at Florence towards the close of 1739.
There the Pomfrets hired a vast palace and gardens
that had belonged to the Medici, and held weekly
gatherings much frequented by English and Italian
society. The English ambassador. Sir Horace Mann,
Lady Mary Montagu, Horace Walpole, Lord Lincoln
with his governor. Pope's friend Spence, and many
others were among their guests. Lady Pomfret, a Avell-
educated woman, but with a fatal turn for amateurish
pedantry, dabbled in literature ; translated Froissart ;
is said to have written a life of Vandyke, of which for-
tunately nothing is known ; and corresponded profusely
with the Countess of Hertford, mingling gossip on books,
antiquities, art, and Italian sight-seeing with very bad
verses of the descriptive kind. Horace Walpole, who
had certain private reasons of his own for a grudge
against her, takes specially malicious delight in dwelling
on the ridiculous side of Lady Pomfret. He makes her
responsible for sayings as solemnly absurd as if they
had been the Duke of ^Newcastle's. He "writes once to
his friend Mann in November 17-11 : —

' Lady Townshend told me an admirable history ; it

376 LORD CARTERET

is of our friend, Lady Pomfret. Somebody that belonged
to tlie Prince of Wales said, they were going to Court ;
it was objected that they ought to say, going to Carlton
House ; that the only Court is where the King resides.
Lady Pomfret with her paltry air of significant learning
and absurdity, said, " Oh Lord ! is there no Court in
England but the King's 't Sure there are many more !
There is the Court oi Chancery, the Court of Exchequer,
the Court of King's Bench, etc." Don't you love her? '
Horace Walpole did not love her ; but it is tolerably
clear that he loved one of her dauj/hters as much as an
amateur dilettante and fashionable fribble could. He
had a portrait of Lady Sophia as Juno in his miscella-
neous toyshop at Strawberry Hill. ' Harry, you must
come and be in love with Lady Sophia Fermor ; all the
world is or should be,' he wrote to his friend Conway
in October 1741, when he and the Pomfrets had come
back by different routes to London. All the world
included himself; and the pains he takes to be elabo-
rately sarcastic at Lady Pomfret's expense admit of a
verv' simple explanation. Lady Pomfret had practically
warned him off. She by no means intended the first
Engh.sh beauty of the day to entangle herself with the
youngest son of a mere country squire. Suitors far
more eligible than Horace AValpole could not be want-
ing ; one, Avliose succe-- would not have di-pleri-cd
Lady Pomfret, had already been fluttering around
Lady Sophia on the Continent, sliaring the sight--eeing
and Itahan entertainments of which she was the beauti-
ful centre. This was Lord Lincoln, nephew of the
ridiculous Duke of Xewca-tle. Lincoln seems to have
been decidedly serious in his attention- ; but Xewca-tle
could interfere with as meddle-ome effectiveness in love
as in pohtics. He in-isted, for prudential family reason-,

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 877

that Lincoln should marry Pelham's eldest daughter.
Lincoln sighed as a lover, and obeyed as a nephew.

The Pomfrets returned to England in October 1741,
and Lady Sophia at once became the reigning beauty
in London as she had been the recognised queen at
Florence. People did not wonder ; for, as Lady Mary
Montagu, who knew her well, said, Lady Sophia Fer-
mor's beauty was her least merit. She was as famous
at the Court of George EC. as her accidentally better
remembered relative, the Arabella Fermor of the Rape
of the Loci-, had been at Queen Anne's. ' Handsomer
than all,' she was, says Horace Walpole, at a famous
London ball in 1741 ; ' but a little out of humour at
the scarcity of minuets ; however, as usual, she danced
more than anybody, and, as usual too, took out what
men she liked or thought the best dancers.' ^ Those
who knew her felt no surprise at her successes. 'I am
very well acquainted with Lady Sophia Fermor,' wrote
Lady Mary Montagu in 1744, ' having lived two months
in the same house with her. I shall never be surprised
at her conquests.' But there was some surprise when
the effectual conquest proved to be that of the leading
English minister. The story of this episode in Carteret's
life must not be told by any other than Horace Wal-
pole ; but allowance must constantly be made for his

' This was a ball at Sir Thomas Robinson's ; not the Sir Thomas of
Vienna and diplomacy, but another, eccentric man : ' a tall uncouth man ;
and liis stature was often rendered still more remarkable by his hunting-
dress, a postilion's cap, a tight green jacket, and buckskin breeches. He was
liable to sudden whims, and once set off on a sudden in his hunting-suit to
visit his sister, who was married and settled at Paris. He arrived while
there was a large company at dinner. The servant announced .1/. Robinson ,
and he came in, to tha great amazement of the guests. Among others, a
French abbr thrice lifted his fork to his mouth and thrice laid it down, with
an eaajcr stare of surprise. Unable to restrain his curiosity any longer, he
burst out with, " Excuse me, Sir, are you the famous Robinson Crusoe so
remarkable in history ? '' ' Wal}>oliana, II. 130, 131.

378 LORD CARTEBET

general affectation and exaggeration, his delight in
assisting Lady Pomfret to make herself ridiculous, and
his thinly concealed pique that Lady Sophia Ferinor
was quite out of his own reach. Walpole kept his
friend ]Mann at Florence fully informed of the doings
of the London world : —

' Who do you think is going to marry Lady Sophia
Fermor ? — Only my Lord Carteret !— this very week ! —
a drawing-room conquest. Do hut imagine how many
passions will be gratified in that family! Her own
ambition, vanity, and resentment — love slie never had
any ; ^ the politics, management, and pedantry of the
mother, who will think to govern her son-in-law out
of Froissart. Figure the instructions she will give
her daughter ! Lincoln is quite indifferent, and lauglis.
'M\ Lord Chesterfield says, " It is only another of Car-
teret's vigorous measures." I am really glad of it, for
her beauty and cleverness did deserve a better fate
tlian she was on the point of having determined for
her for ever. How g]-aceful, how charming, and how
haughtily condescending slie will be ! How, if Lincoln
should ever hint past history, she wiQ

Stare upon the strange man's face
As one she ne'er had known.'

This letter was written near the end of March 1744 ;
but the wedding was slightly delayed by Lady Sopliia's
illness. Scarlet fever attacked her, and for four-and-
twentv hours slie was in serious danger. On Carteret's
side, svmpathetic anxiety brought on a fit of the gout.

' Mv Lord Carteret's wedding has been deferred on
Lady Sophia's falhng dangerou-ly ill of a scarlet fever ;
but they say it is to be next Saturday. Slie is to have

' Becau-=e -lie did nrt love me, Horace means.

PBIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 871.(

sixteen hundred pounds a year jointure, four hundred
pounds pin-money, and two thousand of jewels, Car-
teret says he does not intend to marry the mother and
the whole family. What do you think my Lady in-
tends ? '

On the evening of April 14, 1744, the marriage
took place at Lord Pomfret's house. Carteret's mother,
the very old Countess Granville, was invited, but did
not go ; his own daughters he purposely did not invite,
fearing, says Mrs. Delany, that it might affect them too
much, ' and he has indeed,' she adds, ' acted with a
tenderness towards them that I did not imagine had
been in his nature.' Horace Walpole prattles on : —

' The chief entertainment has been the nuptials of
our great Quixote and the fair Sophia. On the point
of matrimony she fell ill of a scarlet fever, and was given
over, while he had the gout, but heroically sent her
word that if she was well he u-oidd be so. Tliey cor-
responded every day, and he used to plague the Cabinet
Councils with reading her letters to them. Last night
they were married, and as all he does must have a
particular air in it, tliey supped at Lord Pomfret's. At
twelve, Lady Granville, his mother, and all his family
went to bed, but the porter : then my Lord went home,
and waited for her in the lodge ; she came alone in a
hackney-chair, met him in the hall, and was led up the
back-stairs.'

Walpole's circumstantial account has the disadvan-
tage of being inaccurate ; Lord and Lady Carteret
returned to their home together, in the usual way of
reasonable beings ; but it would have been less piquant
to say so in a letter intended to supply gossip to Lady
Sophia's friends and admirers in Florence. The Flor-
entines were delighted at the English beaut^-'s success,

380 LORD CARTEBET

and with enthusiastic daring rushed into Latin hexa-
meters and Itahan Cantatas in celebration of the mar-
riage of the Enghsh minister and the ' Farmoria virgo.'
London congratulations and festivities over the affair
were also very numerous : —

' There is to be a great ball to-morrow at the
Duchess of Eichmond's for my Lady Carteret: the
Prince is to be there. Carteret's court pay her the
highest honours, which she receives with the highest
state. I have seen her but once, and found her just
what I expected, tres-grande dame ; full of herself, and
yet not with an air of happiness. She looks ill and is
grown lean, but is still the finest figure in the world.
The mother is not so exalted as I expected ; I fancy
Carteret has kept his resolution, and does not marry
her too. . . .

' I will not fail to make your comphments to the
Pomfrets and Carterets ; I see them seldom, but I am in
favour ; so I conclude, for my Lady Pomfret told me
the other night that I said better things than anybody.
I was with them at a subscription ball at Eanelagh last
week, which my Lady Carteret thought proper to look
upon as given to her, and thanked the gentlemen, who
were not quite so well- pleased at her condescending
to take it to herself My Lord stayed with her there till
four in the morning. They are all fondness — Avalk to-
gether and stop every five steps to kiss. . . . The ball
Avas on an excessively hot night ; yet she was dressed in
a magnificent brocade, because it was new that morning
for the inauguration day. I did the honours of all her
dress : '-How cliarming your ladyship's cross is I I am
suj-e the design was your own!" — " Xo, indeed, my
Lord sent it me just as itis. " — " How fine your ear-rings
are I '' — " Oh ! but they are very heavy. ' Then as much

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 881

to the mother. Do you wonder I say better things than
anybody ? . . .

'I met my Lady Carteret the other day at Knapton's,
and desired leave to stay while she sat for her pic-
ture. She is drawn crowned with corn, like the Goddess
of Plenty, and a mild dove in her arms, like Mrs.
Venus. . . .

' You would be diverted with the grandeur of our
old Florence beauty. Lady Carteret. She dresses more
extravagantly, and grows more short-sighted every day ;
she can't walk a step without leaning on one of her
ancient daughters-in-law. Lord Tweeddale and Lord
Bathurst are her constant gentleman-ushers. She has
not quite digested her resentment to Lincoln yet. . . .
Here is a good epigram that has been made on her : —

Her beauty, like the Scripture feast,
To whicli the invited never came,

Deprived of its intended guest,

Was given to the old and lame. . . .

' My lady is in the honeymoon of her grandeur. She
lives in pubhc places, whither she is escorted by the old
beaux of her husband's court ; fair white-wigged old
allants, the Duke of Bolton, Lord Tweeddale, Lord
Bathurst, and Charles Fielding ; and she ah ovei knots,
and small hoods, and ribbons. Her brotlier told me
the other night, " Indeed, I think my thister doesth
countenanth Eanelagh too mutch!" They call my Lord
Pomfret King Stanislaus, the Queen's fatlier.'

So far Horace Walpole's superficial and exaggerated
gossip. One slight reference to the marriage is from
Carteret himself. He wrote to his friend Tyrawley, the
Encflish ambassador to Eussia : —

' I thank you for your particular kind letter on my

fe

382 LOBD CABTEBET

marriage. My lady will always be glad of the offers
you make. Our friendship has been long, my dear lord,
and shall remain as long as I live.

' Xow for a joke, was it not a bold thing in me to
marry so young and so fine a woman as Lady Sophia
Fermor ? But it turns out well, with all the lawlades
imaginable. Adios, tu atento y seguro vervidor li.asta la
muerte,

'Caeteeet.'i

Tyrawley rephed : —

' In answer to your joke, I always took you for a
bold man. My Lady Carteret is certainly what your
lordship says. I used to see her sometimes at the
Duchess of Pdchmond's, and I thought her in person,
understanding, behaviour, and in aU respects, by much
the finest young lady in England. I must now quote
two or three lines on this subject, out of a letter I lately
received from Madame de TVendt, from Hanover : —
" Que periiez-rous. milord, de noire cher JJiloj'd Carteret,
qui s'e-it comole si tot avec une jeune femrne de la perte de
notre bonne Miladi? Xe justifie-t-il po.s hien ce CjyCa dit
quelqu'un que cest un ohjet vivant qui con-iole d'un rnort .? " '^

Granville's fall from power did not affect the bril-
hancy of his new Countess or the great popularity of
her weekly receptions. This vexed the soul of the
Pelhams. The ridiculous Duke had already this year
behaved with excessive absurdity over another famous
marriage that had followed a month after Carteret's.
As the Duke of Pdchmond refused to h;ten to Henry
Fox'; proposal of marriage with Lady Carohne Lennox,
Fox and Lady Caroline settled matters for themselves
bv a private wedding. To Newcastle's fussy meddle-

' Add. MSS. i'3,H31 . foL .3-3. Ani-uii 'l\. 1714.
- Add. MSS. 2.3,631 ; fo!. VI.

PRIVATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHABACTEBISTICS S83

someness this rather innocent performance seemed on a
level ■wdth important business of state. When Carteret
was going through the rooms one day at Kensington,
soon after the news of this Avedding had spread, he was
summoned up to Xewcastle to talk of a ' most unfortu-
nate affair,' a matter greatly affecting the Duke, who
would not make any secret of it from Carteret. ' I
thought,' said Carteret, ' that our fleet was beaten, or
that Mons had been betrayed to the French. At last it
came out that Harry Fox was married, which I knew
before. This man, who is Secretary of State, cannot be
consoled because two people, to neither of whom he is
any relation, were married without tlieir parents' con-
sent ! ' All the town was soon laughing at Newcastle
and his ' most unfortunate affair.' The Duke also made
himself ridiculous over Countess Granville's dangerous
entertainments, and even comj^lained to Orford that
Horace Walpole frequented them ; but Orford only
laughed at him and his timid absurdity : —

' The great present disturbance in politics is my
Lady Granville's assembly ; which I do assure you
distresses the Pelhams infinitely more than a mys-
terious meeting of the States would, and far more than
the abrupt breaking up of the Diet at Grodno. She
had begun to keep Tuesdays before her lord resigned,
which now she continues with greater zeal. His house
is very fine, she very handsome, her lord very agreeable
and extraordinary ; and yet the Duke of Newcastle
wonders that people will go thither. He mentioned to
my father my going there, who laughed at him. . . .
You can't imagine ho^v my Lady Granville shines in
doing honours ; j^ou know she is made for it. My lord
has new furnished his mother's apartment for her,
and has given her a magnificent set of dressing-plate ;

384 LOBD CABTEBET

he is very fond of her, and she as fond of his being
so.'

One last quotation from Walpole closes the story
of this too brief happiness : —

' Before I talk of any public news, I must tell you
what you will be very sorry for— Lady Granville is
dead. She had a fever for six weeks before her lying-in,
and could never get it off. Last Saturday they called
in another physician. Dr. Oliver: on ::\Ionday he pro-
nounced her out of danger. About seven in the even-
ing, as Lady Pomfret and Lady Charlotte ^ were sitting
by her, the first notice they had of her immediate
danger was her sigliing and saying, " I feel death come
very fast upon me ! " She repeated the same words
frequently — remained perfectly in her senses and calm,
and died about eleven at night. Her mother and sister
sat by her till she was cold. It is very shocking for
anybody so young, so handsome, so arrived at the
height of happiness, so sensible of it, and on whom
aU the joy and grandeur of her family depended, to be
so quickly snatched away ! '

Countess Granville died on October 7, 1745. Her
only child, Sophia, became in 1765 the wife of Lord
Shelburne, first ]^Iarquis of Lansdowne.

The town, in its gossiping way, was soon busying
itself with rumours of a possible third marriage of Lord
GranviUe. The town was quite wrong in that. For
the last seventeen j^ears of his life Granville was a
widower. When his little daughter ^rfiphia was ten
years old, he took her home from the care of Lady
Pomfret ; and he had a son of hi- fir-t marriage surviv-
ing to succeed him in the title. His two eldest ,-ons had

' Lady Charlotte Fermor, Countets Granville's sister. She was gover-
nesB to the children of Geor^'e III., and died at St. James's in 161.3, aged 66.

PIlIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHATiACTEEISTlCS 385

died in infancy ; the third, Eobert, in striking contrast
with the brilliancy of the other members of his familj',
made no figure in the world, and has left no memory
behind him. He succeeded to the earldom on his
father's death in ITGo, and himself died, unmarried, in
1776, when the title of Granville became extinct.

As a parliament ar J' orator Granville, by common
consent, stood in the very highest rank. He had the
physical advantage of a fine person, graceful manners,
and a very handsome countenance. He was of ' com-
manding beauty,' says Lord Shelburne ; and Horace
Walpole uses the same expression : — ■

Commanding beauty, smoothed by cheerful grace,
Sat on the open features of his face.

Swift speaks of his ' most comely and graceful person,'
and chose as the motto of a welcoming poem, when
Carteret was expected in Ireland as Lord-Lieutenant,
Virgil's line : —

Gnitwr et jndchro rcnieits in corpure virtu/t.

But his oratory could ca,sily have dispensed with these
not unwelcome physical enhancements. He shone in
all styles as a speaker. His reputation in the grand
style of eloquence was very great. Demosthenes had
been his special study. He was also as effective in
argumentative as in declamatory speech. No orator's
fine phrases or rhetorical ingenuity could hide from him
tlie real point of any question at issue. Chesterfield
was not inclined to be too lenient a critic of Granville •
yet Chesterfield says of him : ' He was one of the best
speakers in the House of Lords, botla in the declama-
tory and the argumentative way. He had a wonderfid
quickness and precision in seizing the stress of a ques-

c; c

386 LORD CABTEBET

tion, which no art, no sophistry, could disguise to him.'
Granville's really wonderful political knowledge would
have enabled him, even if he had possessed no extra-
ordinary rhetorical gifts, to be a political speaker
always worth listening to. Even very ordinary persons
can generally speak fairly well on subjects with which
tliey are thoroughly acquainted. But Carteret was not
an ordinary person, and his almost boundless informa-
tion was displayed in parhamentary discussion -n-ith all
the charm of a rich and cultured eloquence which
flowed, thought Walpole, ' from a source of wit, gran-
deur, and knowledge.' It was rich in historical allusion,
and often very pleasantly flavoured by Carteret's easy
familiarity with the classics. Lord Shelbume, who,
however, had never himself heard Granville, thought
that his oratory was suited rather for the Senate than
for the people. If it had been otherwise, it would have
been eloquence out of place ; for what other audience
than the Senate had an English statesman in the reign
of George II. ? But while Granville's eloquence was
doubtless usually cast in the grand style which was
familiar to the House of Cowper and Bohngbroke
and Mansfield, he could, when occasion required, speak
in the plainest language of idiomatic homeUness and
matter-of-fact unconventionality. A militia biU which
he opposed he called ' impracticable nonsense, and ' a
shoeincr-horn to faction.' Wlien in 1732 the House of
Lords Avas engaged with Bentley and his academical
quarrels, Carteret called some of the articles which
Trinity College brought against the Master ' the dis-
tempered frenzies of cloistered zealots.'^ He was al-o
especially well-known for the idiomatic directness of his
language in private conversation. Before the outbreak

1 Monk's Benthy, p. 500.

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHAILiCTEBISTICS 387

of the Seven Years' War, he opposed any interference
with French trading-vessels, and called it ' vexing your
neighbours for a little mock.' The smaller European
Princes, whose assistance could only be had after much
haggling and cheapening of bargains, were in Carteret's
language ' Shopkeeper Kings.' When the war with
France began badly, and Newcastle with scared timi-
dity begged Granville to become Prime Minister, he
replied : ' I will be hanged a little before I take your
])lace, rather than a little after.' In a letter to Swift he
speaks of an insignificant legal functionary as a ' machine
in a furred gown.' He was asked once who wrote the
King's speech in a certain year. It was the Lord Chan-
cellor Hardwicke. ' Do you not see,' said Granville,
' the blunt pen of the old Attorney ? ' He was probably
speaking of the undisguised inconsistency of politicians
in and out of place, when he said to the King that no
two things were so different as a cat in a hole and a
cat out of a hole.

In private life Carteret's wit and conversational
powers, his humour and his good humour, made him
very attractive. He Avas a great talker, with a very ex-
tensive range of subjects. He had the Englishman's
rarest gift, the art of conversation. But his table-talk
has all vanished. Horace Walpole might have preserved
much of it, but amusing letters are so much more easily
filled with ball-room gossip or with George Selwyn's
dreary fantasticalities on coffins and corpses. Carteret's
talk was not of the Selwyn type. It was not of that
rather wearisome verbal cleverness which finds a sure
perpetuation in jest-books and anecdote corners. Car-
teret could talk epigrammatically enough when he
t'huse. Steele and Addison, he said, were excellent
companions for an evening, the one at its beginning,

c c 2

388 LOBL CAIiTEIiET

the other towards the close ; for by the time that Steele
had drunk hmiself down, Addison had drunk himself
up. But Carteret's mind was too rich and full to be
ever on the strain to say something striking which
might be quoted in the clubs and coffee-houses as Lord
Carteret's last good thing. He was, says Lord Shelburne,
overfloA^nng with wit, but 'not so much a diseur de bona
iiLoU, like Lord Chesterfield, as a man of comprehensive
ready wit, which at once saw to the bottom, and whose
imagination never failed him. ... He said that such a
man was a stupid man, but an admirable hearer. He
said his house was the neutral port of the Finches,
who carried on the conversation by each of them ad-
dressing him and never each other. He said when all
his other stories failed him, Ireland was a constant
resource. During his stay there as Lord-Lieutenant,
tliere was no end of the ridicule with which it supplied
him.'

Carteret's good-humour was not less attractive than
his conversation. He was never ' as disagreeable as the
occasion would permit.' His wit, frankness, and hospi-
tality, and the accomplishments and attractions of his
family, made his house very popular ; and he never
allowed political differences to interfere with the inter-
course of social life. His refined simphcity hated flattery ;
his open frankness and easy familiarity removed all
coldness from his aristocratic breeding. Plain and
simple in his manner. Lord Sljc-lburne found him on
the one occasion on whicli he saw him ; and Carteret
liked his friends to be plain and simple with him. "Wlien
he Avas Lord -Lieutenant of Ireland he delighted to visit
men of wit and learning on the most homely terms,
and was disappointed when his unexpected arrival was
received with ceremonious apologies for omissions and

PBirATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHARAGTEEISTIGS 881)

defects. Dr. Delany especially pleased him by the easy
unembarrassment witli which he welcomed him when
Carteret once unexpectedly called upon the Doctor, and
said he was come to dine : —

' Others,' said Carteret to Delany, ' whom I have
tried the same experiment on, have met me in as much
confusion as if I came to arrest them for high treason ;
nay, they would not give me a moment of their con-
versation, which, and not their dinner, I sought ; but
hurry from me, and then, if I had any aj)petite, deprive
me of it by their fulsome apologies for defects. This is
like a story I heard the Dean [Swift] tell of a lady who
had given him an invitation to dinner. As she heard
lie was not easily pleased, she had taken a month to
provide for it. When the time came, every delicacy
which could be purchased the lady had prepared, even
to profusion, which you know Swift hated However,
the Dean was scarce seated, when she began to make a
ceremonious harangue ; in which she told him that she
was sincerely sorry she had not a more tolerable dinner,
since she was apprehensive there was not anything there
lit for him to eat ; in short that it was a bad dinner.
[llci'e Swift swore as only an eighteenth-century clergy-
)iian. could, and asked'\ "Why did you not get a better?
Sure you had time enough ! But since you say it is so
bad, I'll e'en go home and eat a herring. Accordingly
he departed.' -^

Carteret carried his good-humour into public hfe.
He took success and defeat with the same good natured
cheerfulness, and was quite indifferent to personal abuse.
Lord Hervey has preserved a characteristic instance of
the unruffled and even amused complacency with which

1 Mrs. Pilkington's Mcm<jii\%lll. 67-70. Not a good authority; 'but
the above is in accordance witli the characters of both Carteret and Swift.

390 LOBD CABTEIiET

Carteret listened to the unjust reproaches of disap-
pointed pohticians. On one occasion during the long
opposition to A\"alpole, the minister's Tory enemies in
the House of Lords thought that Carteret had been too
moderate ; and one of them, in Hervey's hearing, said
to him with the due spicing of profanity which gives so
line a flavour to much of the genuine old Tory dialect

of tlie day : ' " By , Carteret, I know not what you

mean by this ; but whatever you mean, I believe after
this you will not find it very easy to get any party or
any set of men to trust you again. I am sure I will not ;
and where you will find fools that will, I don't know. . . .

By , Carteret, we all know you." . . . Lord Carteret

turned to us who were sitting by him and said, with
a cheerful unconcern, not at all affected or put on,
but quite natural, "Poor Aylesford is really angry." '
And Lord ]\Iansfield told Marchmont that throughout
the long intrigue Avhich drove Carteret from power in
1744 Carteret's behaviour had been admirable ; that he
had never once lost his temper. This fineness of temper
is the more noticeable because Carteret was politically
ambitious, and made no pharisaical attempt to deny
that on repeated occasions AValpole and the Pelhams
had used him badly. It would have been easy to have
been good-hum ouredly careless if Carteret had been
sick of power or pining for retreat. But in 1744
Carteret was in the full vigour of liis activity, and an
anecdote which must refer to the time when he ^va;
made Lord President of the Council ^hows that many
years later, when liis health was already breaking, it
was not because he Avas indifferent to power that he
bore no vindictiveness. Carteret was cheerful and un-
resentful though he felt Avounded. He had given to a
fiiend a copy <ii the polyglut Bible, and his friend liad

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 391

rebound it in a sumptuous manner. Carteret saw tlie
book in its adorned condition, and said, ' You have done
witli it as the King has done with me : he made me fine
and he laid me by.'

No man was more fiercely attacked with personali-
ties than Carteret, but he never returned the abuse, and
kept no vindictiveness. ' He was neither ill-natured
nor vindictive,' says Chesterfield, rather superfluously.
He had frequent ojjportunities of revenging himself
upon the Pelhams, but he only laughed at them instead.^
A smaller man than Carteret would have remembered
Avith bitterness the outrageous personal attacks, the
lavish insolence, and the cruelly unjust rhetorical vitu-
peration with which Pitt, in the stormy days of his
political irresponsibihty, had not been too proud to
assist the commonplace Pelhams and Harringtons and
Hardwickes in their intrigues against the colleague whom
they envied and feared. But Carteret forgot all that ;
and it was perhaps not without some well-justified feel-
ings of remorse that, long after Carteret's death, the
Earl of Chatham spoke of him in the House of Lords as
' this great man,' and added : ' I feel a pride in declaring
that to his patronage, to his friendship and instruction
I owe whatever I am.' ^ Carteret had been most unfairly
and most unjustly treated by Walpole ; yet when AValpole
had fallen and the triumphant majority of his enemies
were using means fair and unfair to prove him guilty of
illegal practices, it was Carteretwho opposed an unjust bill

' But first to Carteret fain you'd sing ;
Indeed he's nearest to the King,

Yet careless how you use him ;
Give him, I beg, no lahour'd lays,
He will not promise if you praise,

And laugh if you abuse him l—JPolitwul Balladof 1742.
" Forliamenfary History, XVI. 1,007. Xo\-. 22, 1770.

392 LOBD CABTEBET

which the Commons had passed against the late minister,
and led the Lords in rejecting it. And Carteret was as
faithful to his friends as he was placable to his enemies.
AVhen his early patron, Sunderland, died in 1722, it was
rumoured that the Frencli Eegent Orleans had in con-
versation accused Sunderland of intriguing with the
Jacobites. Carteret, whose health had suffered through
Sunderland's death, wrote to his friend Schaub at Paris,
asking for an explanation of this very ridiculous charge.
In a letter which was not meant for show, for it was
marked, ' very secret ; burn this,' Carteret said : 'I will
sooner die than give up my friend's character, which I
will contend for to the hazard of everything.'^

Beyond his humour and his good-humour, Carteret
had in public life high spirit and infinite courage. He
Avas not a degenerate descendant of the Sir Philip
Carterets and the Sir Eichard Grenvilles. ' The Gran-
ville blood has too much fire in it to bear stewing ! '
wrote his daughter, Countess Cowper, once after a visit
to an unwholesomely heated house. Carteret's brilliant
boldness was naturally the characteristic Avhich most
impressed the average observer in his own day ; for it
made him stand out in strong rehef from the plodding
commonplace of AValpoles, Pelhams, Hardwickes, and
Harringtons. But his daring and spirit were not at all
Avhat they have too often been misrepresented to be.
By bitter political opponents in the later years of his
own life, and often by more modern Avriters who, if
they had taken the trouble to look at what Carteret
himself has \v'ntten, could hardly have made the mistake,
Carteret has been confidently described as a man ol
erratic, dashing, fooHshly daring audacity. In the
dimlv veiled nomenclature of the political pamphlets of

' Brit. Mus. St.am- MSS. 4.2U4 ; fol, C7, 0*.

PBI7ATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHABAGTERISTICS 393

the time, while Newcastle is Bubble-Boy and Walpole
is Bob Bronze, Carteret, John Bull's steward, is Jack
Headlong. Bat Carteret's fearlessness in politics rested
on his unrivalled political knowledge, and was altogether
different from the wild daring of the adventurer who
is bold only because he is ignorant. Carteret always
knew what he wanted, and was perfectly content to
take the every-day method of obtaining it ; but if ever}'-
day methods failed, he was not afraid to meet unusual
difficulties with unusual spirit. When in his northern
negotiations as English mediator he accepted, on his own
responsibility, Prussian and Danish treaties with Sweden
which the Prussian and Danish ministers were afraid to
put their hands to, he was undoubtedly bold, but he
was not rash. He did it only after the most patient
painstaking and long continued laborious endeavour ;
and he expressly said that he disliked the bold strokes
which, however, he -was not afraid to make. Bold
action which is the result of mature consideration and
perfect acquaintance with the facts of a fase has no
connection with impetuous recklessness. When in the
continental ^\'ar Carteret proposed schemes which the
other ministers rejected as wUdly daring, it was because
long study and varied experience had made him a
master of European polities, while his colleagues knew
little more than the rudiments of the science. But
misrepresentation is the easiest of all political arts ; and
nothiiii^- was simpler than to assert over and over ao-ain
that Carteret's plans were all mere audacity and foolish
daring. This has become the stale commonplace of
evei'y political reference that may occasionally be made
to him ; till it is almost as tiresome to be told that
Carteret was reckless as it is to be told that Hooker
was judicious. At the same time, it is a little curious

394 LORD CARTEBET

and not quite easily reconcilable with this facile critici-in
to note that a special characteristic of this reckless
statesnian was his extraordinary devotion to work, and
his patient persistence in all the business that came
before him. He was always wilhng to take pains. 'I
have a working brain,' he once wrote from Stockholm
in the thick of the diplomatic stupidities which weari-
iomely interrupted his comphcated negotiations. AMien
he went to Holland in 1742 to try to rouse the phleg-
matic Dutch from their lethargy, he told the function-
aries who represented to him aU the difficulties which he
would encounter, that he held the principle that nothing
in the world was impossible, and that his own experience
had taught him that persevering steadfastness in thi-
principle was the way to success. This is hardly the
note of recklessness.

Persistent misrepresentation was one of the difficul-
ties which Carteret, like other statesmen, had to struggle
against ; but he does not seem personally to have cared
much about it. While he undoubtedly had political
ambition, he was quite careless about pohtical popu-
laritv in his o\vn day. His political ambition was of
the kind which he had vainly endeavoured to instill into
Henry Fox. The vulgar and merely insular ambitions
of pohtics had no attraction for him, and many of the
checks which he met with in hi- career were due to
liis contemptuous neglect of the usual political methods
of .his day. Winninpton once found Carteret reading
Demoitlienes, and told him he was working for Iiis own
ruin. The Court Almanark, said Winningtou. wa= the
book wliich Carteret should have been studying. In-
different to popularity, lie was careless of the usual
means of gaining it. It is ea-y to sympatlii-e mth and
appreciate Ids conduct in thi~ matter ; but from the

PrJVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHABAGTEBISTICS 395

point of view of his own political aims, his scornful
carelessness was often injudicious and certainly injurious
to him. It greatly weakened his power in parhament.
It was very natural that a man of genius should slight
and despise Newcastle; but Newcastle was a great
parhamentary force, and Carteret treated him with
neglectful contempt. How much more prudent to have
managed Newcastle as Pitt managed him afterwards,
keeping the real mastery in his own hands, while allow-
ing the Duke to revel in his own congenial department!
It might have been more difficult /or Carteret than for
Pitt to do this ; but it was Carteret's own maxim that
nothing was impossible. Newcastle in his unmeaning
way said that Carteret was a man who never doubted.
He never doubted that Newcastle was a fool ; and im-
prudently he did not care to conceal what he thought.
Small personal neglects irritated colleagues who were
already sufficiently inchned to be jealous ; and Carteret's
carelessness of everything but the strictly political side
of politics did not attract to liis support the rather
numerous parliamentary persons for whom politics were
chiefly a matter of social self-interest. Piegardless of
ceremonial decorations himself, he cared nothing who
had tliis Garter or that green ribband. His contemp-
tuous indifference weakened him ; for it drove important
nobodies to other ministers who would condescend to
listen to them ; and Newcastle, whose element this
thoroughly was, unfortunately was not Carteret's friend.
The whole herd of preferment hunters found it use-
less to apply to Carteret. He simply took no notice
of them. Two instances illustrate his not unnatural
but fatally imprudent indilTerence. In September 1742
the Duchess of Portland writes to Mrs. Delany's sister,
Anne Granville, Carteret's own relation : —

S96 LOBD CABTEBET

' I went the Sunday before I came out of town to
the Arch-Dragon [Countess Granville, Carteret's mother]
by appointment, to know of her whether the report of
our friend's promotion was to be depended on ; and
after flattering her pretty sufficiently she told me she
knew nothing of the matter, that she beheved there was
nothing in it, and that her son was never interested in
anybody's business, his whole mind being taken up in
doing good to the nation, and till the French was drove
out of German)^, and Prague was taken, he could not
think of such a bagatelle as that.' ^ Carteret was per-
fectly impartial in his indifference ; for the preferment
desired on this occasion was for a relation of his OAvn.

Horace Walpole is the chronicler of the second in-
stance. When Granville became President of the Council
in 1751, Lord Chief Justice Willes was congratulated
on the return of his friend to Court. Willes replied : —

' He my friend ? He is nobody's friend. I will give
you a proof. Sir Ptobert Walpole had promised me to
make my friend Clive one of the King's Council ; but
too late ! I asked him to request it of Mr. Pelham,
who promised but did not perform. When Lord Gran-
ville was in the height of his power, I one day said to
him. My Lord, you are going to the King ; do ask him
to make poor Clive one of his Council. He replied.
What is it to me who is a judge or who a bishop ? It
is my business to make Kings and Emperors, and to
maintain the balance of Europe. Willes repHed, Then
they who want to be bishops and judges will apply to
those who will submit to make it their business.' -

Carteret even damaged his own private circum-
stances by his too contemptuous neglect of his own

' Mrs. Delany, Autobiograpliy and Correqvndenre, II. 195.
« 11. Walpole's Last Ten Tears >.f Georye II., I. 14G, U7.

PBIVATE LIFE^PEBSONAL CHABACTEBISTIGS Q^l

personal advantage. Scornful of money in public life,
he was carelessly indifferent to it in private. Shelburne
gives a curious and perhaps somewhat exaggerated
illustration of Carteret's blameworthy imprudence : —

' Both he [Carteret] and Sir Eobert Walpole were
above money, particularly the former. Lord Carteret
was more careless than extrava"-ant. When his dauah-
ter Lady Georgiana was going to be married to Mr.
Spencer, much against the inclination of Sarah, Duchess
of Marlborough — with whom he had been in great

favour, but had lost it on some political account he

suffered the day to be fixed for signing the settlements
and solemnising the marriage without any thought how
he was to pay her fortune. His family, knowinr;- that
he had not the money, was under vast uneasiness as
the day approached, and as far as they could venture,
reminded him of it, to no purpose, till the very day
before. Sir Eobert Worsley, Lady Carteret's fatlier,
came to him, and, speaking of the marriao-e, said he
hoped he -was prepared with Lady Georgiana's fortune,
because he knew the Duchess of Marlborough's violence
and her aversion to the marriage. He said undoubtedly
that it could not be supposed thai he was unprepared.
'■ Because if you are," says Sir Eobert Worsley, " I have
5,000/. at my bankers, with which I can accommodate
you." He said, " Can you really ? If so, I shall be
much obliged to you, for, to say the truth, I have not
a hundred pounds towards it." At one time lie had an
execution in his house, brought by a coal-merchant to
whom he owed two thousand pounds. His coach etc
was stopped. As soon as it was taken off, he saw a
man in the hall whose face he did not recollect It
was the merchant. He went up to him, made a very

308 LOBD CABTEBET

crracious bow, and the man served him to the day of
his death.'

While Carteret, regardless of party or private con-
siderations, was thinking of the politics of Europe, the
Pelhams ^vere thinking of the politic? of the Cockpit.
The Pelhams were wise from their own small point of
view ; while Carteret's conduct was douljly imprudent ;
for his strengtli in the House of Commons was small,
apart from the assistance which the Pelhams might be
willing to give him. For, over and above the weakness
which he might have avoided if he had condescended
to the usual arts of parliamentary management, if, as
Winnington said, he had studied parhament more and
Demosthenes less, Carteret had in the course of his long
career disadvantages in parliament for which he Avas in
no way personally responsible. He had never sat in
the House of Commons, and in the reign of George H.
the House of Lords was no longer the clearly superior
House, as it had been when Carteret first entered par-
liament. He had also suffered serious losses near the
beginning of his public life by the deaths of his
two friends Stanhope and Sunderland, his introducers
to active pohtical work. These lo'^ses left Carteret, a
young man of thirty, with very little but his own genius
to help him, exposed to the jealous political enmity of
the masterful minister who kept himself at the head of
English affairs for twenty years. There is no need to
seek for or to invent explanations of AYalpole's lifelong
opposition to Carteret. Friends and enemies alike
reco''ahsed that Carteret was a man of indisputable
LTeiiius, of verv great political ability, and of higli-spirited
independence and individuality. That was quite enough
to make it imjxjr^sible that he and AValpole should long
act together. Careless and indifferent about most things

PBIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHAEIGTEBISTICS 390

else, AValpole was terriblj^ in earnest whenever it was a
question of his own undivided personal power. It is not
surprising that a man who quarrelled about political
influence with a respectable mediocrity like Townshend
found it absolutely necessary to free himself from col-
lea<TiiGs like Pulteney and Carteret. The striking thing,
in itself a very strong proof of the force of Carteret's
character and of his pre-eminence in politics, is the fact
that for nearly half of Waljjole's long rule, from 1721
to 1730, Cai'teret was actually a member of Walpole's
Cabinet. Walpole could only get rid of Carteret after
an unremitting struggle of nearly ten years.

Parliamentary disadvantages continued to accom-
pany Carteret when he himself succeeded to AYalpole's
power. It was a time of general war, Avhich had
been commenced and, as far as England's part in it
was concerned, hopelessly mismanaged before Carteret
became minister ; and, though he did all that one man
could do, he was thwarted by jealous colleagues who
shared neither his genius nor his knowledo-e. His
ministry was divided and a compromise ; the Whio- party
Avas in antagonistic sections. Absorbed by the war.
involved in foreign negotiations, much absent from
England, Carteret left the management of home and
domestic affairs too much to ministers who were de-
lighted to plot against him undisturbed by his presence.
He was practical^ Prime Minister and Foreio-n Minis-
ter ; it was not only natural but essential that durin<T
his most anxious peiiod of power he should be mainly
occupied with foreign affairs. Unfortunately this
allowed to treacherous colleagues almost unrestricted
scope for intrigue and easy opportunity for unbounded
public misrepresentation. Carteret was prolono-ino- the
Avar for the sake of his own ambition ; for the sake of

400 LORD CABTEBET

Hanover ; to gain the personal favonr of the King ; tor
a hundred other reasons as perfectly false as these.
When one considers the small hold which Carteret had
on parliamentary support, the jealous intrigues of his
colleagues from the very beginning of his career, his
own careless neglect which naturally offended the self-
esteem of persons in important situations, and his
complete indifference to personal popularity, it is not
strange that the shoal of his enemies — his poHtical
enemies, for he had no private ones — at times triumphed
over him, and made his political career a somewhat
chequered one.

But Carteret had other resources than politics. Un-
like Walpole, who, his son Horace says, ' loved not
reading nor writing,' Carteret was a highly educated
scholar and an instructed lover of literature. On the
political side his knowledge was very great and undis-
puted. He was intimately acquainted with the public
law of Europe and the internal laws of the various
European countries. The intricacies of the constitution
of the Empire were no mystery to him. His knowledge
of European history was equally profound, extending
even to obscure points usually left with cheerfulness to
the monopoly of the professional historian. Harte,
author of the life of Gustavus Adolphus, wrote in his
preface, after Carteret's death : 'It was my good fortune
or prudence to keep the main body of my army (or in
other words my matters of fact) safe and entire. The
late Earl of Granville was pleased to declare himself
of this opinion ; especially when he found that I had
made Chemnitius one of my principal guides ; for his
Lordship was apprehensive I might not have seen that
valuable and authentic book, which is extremely scarce.
I thought myself happy to have contented his Lordship

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 401

even in the lowest degree ; for he understood the Ger-
man and Swedish histories to the highest perfection.'
On the more strictly literary side Carteret had an extra-
ordinary acquaintance with languages, literatures, and
philosophy. It was of no consequence to him in what
language the foreign ministers might choose to send
their despatches, or in what language he himself might
reply to them. As Horace Walpole caUed him ' master
of all modern politics,' so Chesterfield called him ' master
of all the modern languages.' French or Italian, Spanish
or Portuguese, German or Swedish ; it was indifferent
to him which he wrote and which he spoke. He even
turned his attention to the Sclavonian languages and
literatures. With the classical languages he also had
an easy familiarity. Swift, whom Carteret himself
once silenced with a quotation from Virgil, with grave
irony says of him that he had a ' fatal tui'n of mind
toward heathenish and outlandish books and languages.
... It is known, and can be proved upon him, that
Greek and Latin books might be found every day in his
dressing-room, if it were carefully searched. ... I am
likewise assured that he has been taken in the very fact
of reading the said books, even in the midst of a session,
to the great neglect of public affairs. ... I have it
from good hands, that when his Excellency is at dinner
with one or two scholars at his elbows, he grows a most in-
supportable and unintelligible companion to all the fine
gentlemen round the table. ... I am credibly informed
he will, as I have already hinted, in the middle of a
session quote passages out of Plato and Pindar at his
own table to some book-learned companion, without
blushing, c\'en when persons of great stations are by.' ^
Carteret's reputation as a Greek scholar was espe-

> Swift, n'orks, Yll. 285-301.

D D

402 LORD CABTEBET

cially hi;/li. He had taken his love of Gfieek with liim
from Oxford to Denmark and to Ireland, and he kept it
tliroughout hh life, quoting Homer on his death-bed
He wrote of liis son to S\dft : ' I tell him, study Greek,
Koi ovSkf ovBewore Tairetvov evdvfiyjO-qcrrj ovre dyav iiri-
dvjjLrjcreLs rivds. He knows how to construe this, and I
have the ~atisfa':-tion to beheve he will fall into the
-entiment ; and then, if he makes no figure, he will yet
be a happy man.'^ Homer and Demosthenes were
Carteret's two favourite Greek authors. An Enquiry
lido the Life oji/l Writings of Homer, which appeared in
London in 173o. was assumed, though incorrectlv, to
be his. In 1732 he encouraged his friend Bentley to
undertake an edition of Homer which Bentley had
meditated six year- before. Carteret personally assisted
by borrowing for Bentley aU the manuscripts which he
V as able to procure ; some of thern from his old Christ
Church friend, ilr. Harley. now second Earl of Oxford.
Carteret wrote to Oxford in August 1732 : —

' Having heard that your lordship has several curious
manuscripts of Homer, I take the liberty to acquaint
vou that Dr. Bentley has lately revised the whole works
of Homer, which are now ready for the press, with his
notes, some of which I have seen, and are very curious ;
and he desires leave to coUate your manuscripts upon
some suspected verses in our present editions. If your
lordship wdl be plea-ed to let the Doctor have the manu-
scripts for a sliort time for that purpose, I shall be
obliged to you. I ha^'e set the Doctor at work, and
would be glad to procure such as-istance as he desires.
that he niay have no excuse not to proceed. If your
lordship has no objection to this request, you will let
him have the manuscripts tci be perused at Cambridge,

1 :^wii-t, »'nrki, XLX. oO. March 24, 1707.

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CIIAHAGTERISTIGS 403

upon his application to you. I desire the lionour of an
answer, that I may acquaint tlie Doctor with it. As you
are a known encourager of learning, and learned your-
self, I hope this request will not be disagreeable to you.'

And again in March 1733 : —

'I thank your lordship for your great goodness in
sending me the eleven manuscripts of Homer and re-
lating to him, and for your permitting me to send them
to Dr. Bentley. I shall take his receipt for you, and I am
persuaded he will take great care of them ; they shall
be returned to your lordship with thanks and honour-
able mention of you.' ^

Of Carteret and Bentley — whose Homer was never
published — there is a curious anecdote : — ■

' Dr. Bentley, when he came to town, was accus-
tomed, in his visits to Lord Carteret, sometimes to spend
the evenings with his lordship. One day old Lady
Granville reproached her son with keeping the country
clergyman who was with him the night before till he was
intoxicated. Lord Carteret denied the chai'ge ; upon
which the lady replied that the clergyman could not
have sung in so ridiculous a manner unless he had been
in liquor. The trutli of the case was, that the singing
thus mistaken by her ladyship was Dr. Bentley s endea-
vour to instruct and entertain his noble friend by reciting
Terence acrordina; to the true cantilendfa of the ancients.' -

Of a less-known scholar than Bentley, Dr. John
Taylor, commonly called Demosthenes Taylor, Carteret
was the special patron. Taylor — who is vaguely remem-
bered as ' the most silent man, the merest statue of a
man,' whom Johnson ever met, the man who, dining
once in Johnson's company, distinguished himself by

> Brit. Mus. Harleian M.S3. 7,o23 ; fol. 175-177.
- Monk's Bentley, 580.

D D .'

404 LOBD CABTEBET

uttering in the course of the dinner the one word
' Richard ' — produced an edition of Demosthenes ; and
Carteret, who had specially studied that author and had
much of him by heart, helped Taylor in his work with
books and abundant counsel. Taylor was particularly
sorry that he could not use for his book some of the
manuscripts in the Royal Library at Vienna. Carteret
apphed to Maria Theresa, for whom he had done so
much, and got Taylor what he wanted. He gave Taj'lor
other practical help. In 1757 he secured for him tlie
Residentiaryship of St. Paul's. When Carteret asked
the King for this, George demurred. He had never, he
said, heard of Taylor ; the preferment was a valuable
one, and should be given to a scholar of reputation.
With quiet quickness Carteret replied that Taylor's
scholarship was famous throughout Germany. There
was no need to say more to George H.

Taylor was entrusted by Carteret with the education
of his grandsons. Lord Weymouth and the Hon. Henry
Frederick Thynne. Carteret himself laid down the
plan and methods of their education ; with complete
remembrance, says Taylor, of the answer of the old
Greek, who, when asked what he desired his chil-
dren to be taught, replied, ravT, el-rrev, oTs kol avSpes
yevofj.ei'OL -^ptja-oPTai.

Demosthenes was the subject of a German letter
written by Carteret to a clerical friend of literary tastes.
That an Englisli politician of the nineteenth century
should write to his friends in German would call for no
special notice ; but in 1736 things were different. The
King of England was a German, but German was an
unknown language to liis Enghsh subjects. Carteret
Avas the only Englishman who could speak German \nth
the King ; it may safely be stated that no leading

PBIVATE LIFE—PEBSONAL CHABAGTEBISTICS 405

English statesman except Carteret could have read six
consecutive words of German. A German letter of
Carteret's may therefore be quoted, if for no other
I'eason than that Carteret was the only promhient
English politician who could have written one. In
17oG, and in the orthography of the day, Carteret wrote
to the Eev. Mr. Wetstein, rector of Helmingham,
Ipswich : — •

' LiEBER VON Helmingham, — Die schone ubersetzung
von Griechischer beredsamkeit, so er mir geschict hat,
erfordert von mir alle ersinnliche erkentlichkeit. Icli
sehe mit verAVunderung der Alten spur ; und dass
Teutsch so von Ihrem feder fliesset, der weitlaufigen
und gewaltigen Griechischen Schriebart sehr nahe
kommt. Es ist gewiss dass der Eedner hat nicht so viel
verlohren als in der Francosischen ubersetzung. Tourreil
Avar ein gelehrter und geschichter man. Er verstunde,
Avie seine anmerkungen bezeugen, dess Eedners innerste
meinung, aber die Francosische sprache ist allzu schwach
und unterliegt, Avan Demostenis Avichtige und strahlende
gedancken mit durchdringender macht fortkommen
solten. Ich sehe und flihle dass ihr Teutsch ist fahig,
das alte Griechische feuer anzuzunden, welches in die
andern ubersetzungen so Ich gesehen habe ist gantz
ausgeloscht. Ich Avunsche ihnen alles gluck in dieser
ehrlichen bemuhung, und bitte erlaubniss meinen brief
mit einer Schweitzerischen Avahrsagung zu enden, Avelche
Ich in SchAveitzerischen gedicten gelesen habe —

Die Tugend wird dir selber geben
Was gutes Ich dir Avunsclien kan.

•Ich verbleibe, Ihr Eyfriger Schuler und Diener,

' Carteret.' ^

1 Brit. Mus. Add. MSS. 32,415 ; fol. 341. April 14, 1736.

40G LOBD GABTEBET

However much engrossed he might be in public
affairs, Carteret always had time for the claims of
learning and literature : —

Who that can hear him, and on business, speak,
Would dream he lunch 'd with Bentley upon Greek,
And will to-night with Hutcheson regale on
The feast of Reason in the tough To Kalon ? '

In the midst of his Swedish negotiations he visited
Upsala University, and delighted in the society of its
learned men. They also were dehghted with him, and
Carteret kept up pleasant relations with them and their
University in later years. While harassed in Dublin by
the unhappy coinage scheme, he took considerable
trouble to find out the moral philosopher Hutcheson,
whose anonymously published Inquiry into the Original
of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue had interested him.
Carteret astonished Hutcheson by his acquaintance with
philosophical thought as much as he delighted him by
the intimacy of his friendship. Indeed, to have any-
thing like a tincture of scholarship or literature was
sufficient to gain Carteret's favour. Many a strugghng
writer received from him not merely empty and easy
patronage, but effective help. His treatment of an ob-
scure writer, one Cleland, son of the Colonel Cleland
who sat for the Will Honeycomb of the Spectator, is
thoroughly characteristic of Carteret. Cleland, not the
most respectable of characters, found himself in trouble
before the Privy Council for the nature of one of his
publications. He pleaded poverty, and the truth of his
plea was painfully evident. Carteret, when Cleland pro-
mised never again to have anything to do with hterary
ventures of that doubtful kind, obtained him a pension

' Lord Lytton's St. Stejilien's.

PBIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 407

of a hundred a year ; on which the unfortunate man
afterwards mainly hved, doing miscellaneous writing,
and faithfully keeping his promise.

The names of many of those who in their day were
grateful for Carteret's assistance have long since been
forgotten by posterity. The glimpses to be obtained
of Carteret's connection with literary names not likely
to pass into such rapid oblivion are tantalisingly super-
ficial. There is no positive evidence that Carteret knew
Voltaire ; but it is probable that they had met,
for Voltaire was in England from May 1726 till the
early months of 17'29, and Carteret was in London every
year of his Irish Lord-Lieutenancy. Swift also was in
London in 1726 and 1727 ; and it is not likely that
Swift would have left Voltaire and Carteret unknown
to each other. Voltaire got his Ilenrtade printed in
London in a very cheerful pecuniary manner, and sent
an early copy of it to Carteret in Dublin. ' I sent the
other day a cargo of French dulness to my Lord-Lieu-
tenant,' Voltaire wrote to Swift in 1727. No doubt he
knew the man to whom he sent his superlative epic.
"With the early work of another young author Carteret
was also acquainted. In 1761, Gibbon, then aged
twenty-four, published his French Essai sur V Etude de la
Litterature. Mallet wrote to Gibbon in June 1761 : 'I
found Lord Granville reading you, after ten at night.
His single approbation, which he assures you of, will
oQ for more than that of a hundred other readers.'
Addison was another of Carteret's friends, though
Carteret was not yet thirty when in 1719 Addison died.
From Stockholm, Carteret wrote home to Craggs in
December of that year : ' I had so true a friendship for
Mr. Addison, and shall always retain so great respect
for his memory, that I shall do my best to procure sub-

408 LOBD CARTERET

scriptions for liis AVorks, not only from Her Majesty
and the Prince, but from the most distinguished persons
in Sweden.' Gay, too, had pleasant intercourse with
Carteret. The Beggar'v Opera had been produced in
1728 in London, and Carteret and Swift had enjoyed it
in Dublin. 'We have your opera for sixpence,' Smft
wrote to Gay, ' and ^ve are as full of it pro modulo
nustro as London can be ; continually acting, and
house crammed, and the Lord-Lieutenant several times
there laughing his heart out.' ^ When Carteret's
Lord-Lieiitenancy was over, he became personally
acquainted with Gay. Prom Ame.sbury, the seat of
the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, Gay wrote to
Swift :—

' Lord Carteret was here yesterday, in his return
from the Isle of Wight, where he had been a-sliooting,
and left seven pheasants with us. He went this morn-
ing to the Bath, to Lady Carteret, Avho is perfectly
recovered. He talked of you three hours last night,
and told me that you talk of me : I mean, that you are
prodigiousl}- in his favour, as he says .... He seemed
to take to me, which may proceed from your recom-
mendation ; though, indeed, there is another reason for
it, for he is now out of employment, and my friends
have been generally of that sort, for I take to them,
as being naturally inchned to tho-o who can do no
mischief ^

Pope also was remembered in the conversations
between Carteret and Swift in Dublin. Xo details re-
main of the intimacy between Carteret and Pope;
foolisli anecdote poorly fills up the blank by trying
to believe that they once passed a whole evening to-

1 Elwin'8 I'.qji-., Vn. A-ir,. March i'-, 17l'-:.
• S^Yift, Worhs, XA'H. :jl.j, SH). Nov. 7, 1730,

PBIVITE LIFE— PERSONAL CHABACTEBISTICS 409

getlier in debating whether one should say Cicero or
Kikero : —

To sound or sink in Cano, or A,
Or give up Cicero to C or K.'

But Carteret's greatest friend was Swift diimself.
Their early intimacy and the renewal of their friendship
in Ireland have already been sufiiciently dwelt upon.
They never saw each other again after Carteret left
Dublin in 1730 ; for Swift, though invitations from the
Carterets were not wanting, never revisited England
after the death of Stella. The friendship thenceforth
was continued by correspondence, of which the existing
printed part is probably only a very meagre portion.
In 1734 Carteret wrote to Swift : —

' I had the honour of your letter, which gave me a
considerable pleasure to see that I am not so much out
of your thoughts, but that you can take notice of events
that happen in my family. I need not say that these
alliances [the marriages of his daughters] are very
agreeable to me ; but that they are so to my friends
adds much to the satisfaction I receive from them.
They certainly enable me to contract my desires, Avhich
is no inconsiderable step towards being happy. As
to other things, I go on as well as I can ; and now
and then observe that I have more friends now than I
had when I was in a situation to do them service. This
may be a delusion; however, it is a pleasing one. And
I have more reason to believe a man, now I can do him
no good, than I had when I could do him favours,
which the greatest philosophers are sometimes tempted
to solicit their friends about. . . . Lady Worsley. my
wife, and daughters, to whom I have shown your letter,

' Dunciad, IV. 221.

410 LOBD CABTEBET

not forgetting my mother, present their humljle service
to you. And I desire to recommend the whole family,
as well as myself, to the continuance of your favour.' ^
Again in 1735 : —

' I thank you for taking notice of the prosperous
events that have happened to my family. If alhance
and the thoughts of prosperity can bind a man to the
interest of his country, I am certainly bound to stand
by liberty ; and when you see me forgetful of that, may
you treat me hke Traulus and Pistorides.^ I am im-
patient for four volumes, said to be your works, for
which my wife and I have subscribed ; and we expected
a dozen of copies from ]\Ir. Tickell last packet. I in-
tend these works shall be the first foundation of tlie
libraries of my three grandsons. In the meantime they
will be studied by my son and sons-in-law. . . . Sir,
that you may enjoy the continuance of all happiness is
my wish ; as for futurity, I know your name "will be
remembered, when the names of Kings, Lord-Lieutenants,
Archbishops, and parliament poHticians will be forgotten ;
at last, you yourself must faU into obhvion, which may
happen in less than a thousand years, though the term
may be uncertain, and will depend on the progress
that barbarity and ignorance may make, notwithstand-
ing the sedulous endea^'ours to the contrary of the
great prelates in this and succeeding ages. My wife,
my mother, my mother-in-law, my etc., etc., etc. aU join
with me in good wishes to you.' ^

Once more, two years later: —

' Your late Lord-Lieutenant [Duke of Dorset] tuld

I Swift, jrorh; XVIU. 20>. iOn. April 1.3, 17-34.
' Lord Allen and Rich. Tighe, whom Swift had satirised while Carteret
was Lord-Lieutenant.

' Swift, Tfo//:.-', XVTI. 277-270. March 6, 17.3.J.

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 411

me, some time ago, he tlaought he was not in your
favour. I told him I was of that opinion, and showed
him tlie article of your letter relating to himself. I
believe I did wrong ; not that you care a farthing for
Princes or ministers, but because it was vanity in me
to produce your acknowledgments to me for providing
for people of learning, some of which I had the honour
to promote at your desire, for which I still think myself
obliged to you. And I have not heard that since they
have disturbed the peace of the kingdom, or been
Jacobites, in disgrace to you and me.

' I desire you will make my sincere respects acceptable
to Mr. Delany. He sent me potted woodcocks in per-
fection, which Lady Granville, my wife and children,
have eat ; though 1 have not yet answered his letter. My
Lady Granville, reading your postscript, bids me tell
you that she will send you a present ; and if she knew
what you liked, she would do it forthwith. Let me
know, and it shall be done, that the first of the family
may no longer be postponed by you to the third place.
My wife and Lady Worsley desire their respects should
be mentioned to you rhetorically ; but as I am a plain
peer, I shall say nothing but tliat
' I am, for ever. Sir,

' Your most humble and obedient servant,

' Caeteeet.' ^

It is hardly possible that a really satisfactory hfe of
Carteret should ever now be written. It is more than a
hundred and twenty years since he died, after an active
political life that extended over more than half a cen-
tury ; but he found no Boswell among his own contem-
poraries, and, with a really curious indifference to the
brilliancy of his poHtical career and to the charm of

' Swift, Worhs, XIX. 50, 51. March 24, 17'J7.

412 LORD CARTERET

his personal gifts and character, posteritj- has been con-
tent to drop him from its memory. Xot quite so
entirely, indeed, as it has dropped its unrememberable
Hardwickes and Harringtons ; in an uneasy sort of way
posterity sometimes vaguely wonders why it does not
know more of Carteret. But this merely nominal and
unintelligent remembrance has itself been a misfortune.
For if the man of genius was not to be remembered
with true and full knowledge, it was a double wrong
that an unintelUgible and impossible figure should be
set up to play fantastic tricks in the records of English
history, and that this should gravely be declared to be
the figure of Lord Carteret. For the Lord Carteret of
the English historian is a fantastic impossibihty. At
once a great statesman and a mere bombastic fanatic ;
a great genius and an insincere trifler ; an unrivalled
scholar and a frivolous farceur and consumer of Bur-
gundy ; a despiser of stars and places and money, and
a selfish place-hunter, content that the country should
go to ruin if only he might cling to office. That figure
is in a word incredible and impossible. It may not now,
after so long a lapse of time, be possible to substitute a
completely satisfactory portrait in place of the absurdly
exaggerated and distorted one. But at least it is pos-
sible to look without prejudice at the not inconsiderable
body of first-hand evidence which remains, and to refuse
credence to mo-t of the facile and self-contradicting
criticism of the many writers who, after all, on this
subject are not many voice.-, but only many echoe:^.
Carteret suffered enough from self-interested 'misrepre-
sentation during his own Hfetime. Xo one can have any
interest in misknowing him now ; no one now can find
any profit or satisfactiuii in blaming or praising him
undii]v. J'')-teritvs -ole intere-t in him. if it has anv

PRIVATE LIFE— PERSONAL CIIABAGTEBISTICS 413

interest at all, is simply to know what his career and
character really were ; to extricate them from the
chaotic contradictions of political partisanship, as well as
from tlie easy negligence and echoing repetitions of
writers who would not knowingly misrepresent, but who
have not cared to examine at first-hand for themselves.
Let it be granted that Carteret had faults and committed
mistakes ; he paid dearly enough for them in his own
lifetime, and they were hardly of the kind to merit the
reproof of posterity. He made the mistake of despising
political jobbery, of refusing to flatter influential im-
becility, of scornfully neglecting the greedy crowd of
l)lace-hunters and pensioners and fawning flatterers,
who thronged a corrupt Court and revelled in a corrupt
society. Carteret neglected all that ; and in the days of
George II. it was impossible to neglect it with impunitJ^
lie paid for it in his own lifetime by seeing power fall
to those wlio would take the mean and customary -ways
of obtaining it. It is a pity that he should continue to
pay for it still. The motto of the noble house of which
Carteret was tlie most distinguished member must itself
appeal to the inquirer who ventures to examine Car-
teret's career for himself ; for his examination will not
liave led him far before he discovers that to know what
can be known and to tell what can be told of such
a statesman and genius as Carteret is indeed Lmjrd
JJeni'tr.

INDEX.

ADDISON, becomes Secretary of
State, 25 ; remark of Carteret
on, 387, 388 ; Carteret's friend-
ship for, 407, 408

Ahremberg, Diiie d', his early
dinner-horn-, 256 ; on bad terms
with Stair, 265 ; in London,
296 ; in Flanders, 299

Aislabie, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, sent to the Tower, 65

Aix-la-Chapelle, Congress of, 825 ;
Treaty of, id.

iUberoni, 31,71; assists the Jacob-
ites, 38 ; disgraced, 39 ; quoted,
69

Ahnon, contradicts false story of
Carteret and Pitt, 360, 361

Alsace, invaded by the Austrians,
299^

America, Spanish claims on, 201 ;
limited European trade with,
202

Andrie, Prussian ambassador to
England, gives Carteret message
from Frederick, 249

Anne, Qvieen, 23 ; death of, 25

Anson, Admhal, 222

Argyle, Duke of, opposes Walpole's
Spanish policy, 214, 215, 223,
226 ; remark of George II. on,
239 ; becomes A\'ar Minister,
241 ; his dissatisfaction, 242 ;
resigns, 243 ; attacks Carteret,
244," 258

Arnold, Matthew, quoted, 3G4re

Aschaffenberg, Stair and the En-
glish aUies at, 265 ; letter of
Carteret from, 266

Atterbury, at Westminster School,

14 ; his Jacobite plot, 79
August, King of Poland, 36, 191

BAKEINGTON, Lord, on the
Government dm-ing the Seven
Years' A^ar, 353

Bassewitz, 41, 42, 51

Bath, Earl of. See Granville, Sir
John

Bath, Earl of. See Pulteney

Battles, Chotusitz, 249 ; Ozaslau,
id. ; Fahiirk, 318 ; Fontenoy,
316 ; Lansdowne, 12 ; Malpla
quet, 15 ; Messina, 71 ; Moll
witz, 230 ; Pultowa, 37 ; South
wold Ba>-, 10

Bavaria, Elector of, candidate for
the Empire, 232 ; becomes Em-
peror, 245

Bedford, Duke of, Lord-Lieu-
tenant of Ireland, 131; joins
Pelham's Government, 309 ;
Newcastle's schemes against,
321) ; resigns, 329 ; negotiates
with France in the Seven Years'
War, 361

Beggar's Opera, produced, 408

Belleisle, Coimt of, his designs on
Germany, 247

Bentinok, Earl of, on Carteret's
foreign policy, 250, 251 ; on
Wade, 300

Bentley, Dr., becomes Master of
Trinity, 14 ; his quarrels with
the Fellows, 386 ; encouraged
by Carteret to edit Homer,
402, 403 ; anecdote of, 403

■116

LORD CARTERET

Beranger, quoted, 1-j2

Berkeley, Bishop, 16

Bemsdorf, 35, 52

Bermck. Marshal, 102 ; kiUed,
I'M

Bolingbroke, Lord, 15 ; Carteret
dines with, 17 ; joins the Go-
vernment, 18; resigns, 19 ;
returns topo-i^er, 20 ; friendship
with Smft and Carteret, 17 ;
incUnes to the Jacobites, 23 ;
rivahry 'nith Harle^-, 23, 25 ;
ruined by Queen Anne's death,
25 ; in opposition to Walpole,
161 ; Queen Caroline on, 166

Bolton. Earl of, 168

Boswell, anecdote of Carteret by,
269, 270

Bothniar. 31

Boirlter, Hugh, Primate of Ireland,
125 ; ad-i-i?es withdrawal of
Wood's patent, 126, 128 ; his
pohcy towards Ireland, 120.
130 ; on Carteret's Lord-Lieu-
tenancy. 132, 133

Bourbon, Duke of. becomes French
Eegent, 100 ; declines a Spanish
marriage for Louis XY., 148 ;
fall of, 151

Braddock, General, defeat of, in
America, 339

Breda, Congress of. 323

Bremen, acquired by George I.,
37 ; formally yielded by Sweden,
51, 52

Breslau, Treaty of, 250. 314

Brest. French Expedition from,
205

Breton, Cape, acquired by Eng-
land, 326

Broad-Bottom, Government on,
242, 308

Brodrick, Alan. See Midleton

Brodi-ick, Mr., 105. 106. 107, 111

Brodrick, St. John, 112

Burke, on Jenkins' ear, 206
Bute, Earl of, character, 355 ;
Secretarj- of State. 356 ; de.~Tres
to end the Seven Years' War,
361 ; Prime Minister. iV7. ; makes
Peace of Paris, 362
BjTig, Sir George. Admiral, des-
troys Spanish fleet at Me.=sina,
71

CAR

Byng, John, Admiral, fails to re-
lie\e Minorca, 343

CALEXDAE, reform of the, New-
castle's dread of, 810

Cambrai, Congress of, 72 ; great
difficulties in its way, 75-70 ;
meets at last, 70 ; its futility,
147 ; collapse of, 149

Coiiipredon, French minister at
Stockholm, 53

Carhsle, Lord, awkward position
of, 319, 320

Carlos, Don, his claim to Italian
Duchies, 69, 77 ; rumour of his
possible marriage with >Iaria
Theresa, 150 ; secures the
Duchies, 154, 157 ; declared
King of Xaples and Sicily, 196

Carlyle, Thomas, on Carteret's
diplomacy, 56; on Carteret as
Foreign Minister, vti. : on Car-
teret's policy, 277 ; his mistake
about Carteret, 3.59 (and note)

Caroline, Queen, wife of George
IL, her support of Walpole, 158.
1G5 ; criticism of Carteret and
Bolingbroke, 166 : inclines to-
wards Carteret, 182-184 ; her
quarrel with the Prince of
Wales, 180. 186 ; death, 180

Cartagena, failure of EngUsh
attack on, 234

Carteret. Lady Anne, befriends
Prynne, 2. 3

Carteret, Lady Frances, first wife
of Lord Carteret, marriage, 17 ;
early friendship with Swift, id. ;
renewed friendship with Swift
in Ireland, 137, 13^ ; bwift's
ver.!es on, 370 ; Swift on her
lieauty. 371: with Carteret to
Hanover. 372 ; death, 373

Carteret, Lady Frances, daughter
of Lord Carteret, maniage to
Marqms of Tweeddale, 373 : her
musical abilities, 374 ; her direc-
tions for her burial, id.

Carteret,LadyGeorgiana.marriage
to Hon. J. Spencer, 372 ; second
marriage to Earl Cowper, id. ;
on the Granville blood, 302

Carteret, Lady Grace, marriage
to Earl of Dvsart. 371

INDEX

417

Carteret, Lady Louisa, marriage
to Viscount Wej-mouth, 871

Carteret, Sir George, raises forces
against the Parliament, 3 ; re-
ceives the Prmce of Wales in
Jersej', 4 ; intimacy with Lord
Clarendon, 4-5 ; proclaims King
Charles II. in the Channel
Islands, 5 ; Treasurer of the
Navy, 7 ; kindness to Pepys, id.

Carteret, Sir Philip, 8 ; Pepys'
account of his marriage, 8-10

CARTERET, Lord, hh-th, 13 ; at
Westminster School, 14 ; at
Christ Ghm'ch, 15 ; Swift on his
Oxford Ufe, 16 ; early friend-
ship with Swift, id. ; and with
Bolingbroke, 17, 20 ; marries
Lady FrancesAVorsley, 17 ; takes
seat in Lords, 18 ; joins the
Whigs, 21 ; early connection
with Stanhope and Sunderland,
21 ; supports the cause of the
Protestant Succession, '22, 2.'^ ;
made Lord-Lieutenant of De-
vonshu-e, 25 ; supports the
House of Hanover, 2(i ; supports
Septennial Act, 27-28; early
interest in foreign politics, iil. ;
made ambassadi ir extraordinary
to Sweden, 39; at Gothenburg
and Stockholm, 40 ; fi-iendship
with the Queen and Prince of
Sweden, 40, 49 ; diplomatic
difliculties, 42-13 ; secures pre-
liminary Convention for peace
between England and Sweden,
42 ; and between Prussia and
Sweden, 48 ; popularity m Swe-
den, 50 ; persuades S«'eden to
treat with Denmark, 51 ; secures
final treaty between Sweden
and England, 55 ; and between
Sweden and Prussia, 5(j ; ar-
ranges armistice between Swe-
den and Denmark, 51 ; and
final peace, Gl ; leaves Sweden,
id. ; at Fredericksburg and Co-
penhagen with the King of
Denmark, 61-63 ; returns to
England, 64 ; made Secretary of
State for the Southern Depart-
ment, 66 ; his foreign policy,
72 ; refuses to cede Gibraltar,

77 ; to Hanover «lth the King
and Townshend, 79 ; Walpole's
jealousy of, 81 ; kno^^■s his own
danger, 82 ; \isit to Berlin, 85 ;
opposed at Hanover by Towns-
hend, 87 ; his favour with the
Kmg, 88 ; his influence in
France, 89 : plotted against in
France hy Walpole and Towns-
hend, 94, 95 ; suspicious of his
colleagues, 97 ; success of Wa.!-
pole's plot against, 100 ; made
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland,
101 ; declmes to quarrel with
Walpole and Townshend, 102 ;
arrives in Dublin, 116 ; connec-
tion with the Irish coinage
question, 111-112 ; early ad-
vises cancelling ^\'ood's patent,
113 ; Newcastle's treacherj' to,
114 ; forced to issue proclama-
tion against Swift, 120 ; strange
scene with Swift, 120-121 ; re-
news advice of ending Wood's
patent, 125, 127 ; announces
that it is cancelled, 12M ; his
difficult positi()u in Ireland,
130-131 ; on the Irish Parlia-
ment, 131 ; impartiaUty m Ire-
land, 132 ; great popularity
tliere, 133 ; correspondence with
Swift in Ireland, 133-137 ; re-
newed friendship %vith Swift,
141-145 ; intimacy with Dr.
Sheridan, 141-142 ; opposes
French designs in Germany, 155 ;
attempts agreement with Wal-
pole, l61 ; joins the opposition
against hun, 163 ; Queen Caro-
line on, 166 ; his fairness in op-
position, 109, 219; parliamen-
tary action in the Porteous case,
172-176 ; relations with Queen
Caroline, 182-184, 18(5-189 ; on
Walpole's foreign poHcy, 198-
199 ; on "Walpole's good-luck,
200 ; attacks Walpole's Spanish
pohcy, 207, 208, 210, 213-215 ;
desires alliance with Prussia,
218 ; leads great party debate
against Walpole, 223-225 ; sup-
ports cause of Maria Theresa,
229-230, 235 ; negotiated with,
after fall of Walpole, 239-240 ;

EE

41 y

LOBD CABTEBET

becomes Secretary of State,
241 ; his foreign policy, 24(5-
247 ; on character of Frederick
tlie Great, 248 ; brings about
peace between Frederick and
Maria Theresa, 250 ; his great
popularitj', id. ; anxious to help
Maria Theresa, 251 ; and to get
the French out of .the Empire,
254 ; goes to the Hague, 255 ;
success there, id. ; attacked by
disappointed politicians, 257-
258 ; on his French poUcy, 261 ;
goes again to the Hague, 204 ;
at Aschaffenberg, 266 ; his des-
patch on the battle of Dettm-
gen, 269; his ]ioHcy towards
the Emperor, 271-273 ; se])a-
rates him from the French,
274 ; his plans ruined bj- the
ministers at home. 275 ; secures
treaty between Maria Theresa
and Sardinia, 279 ; differences
with the Pelhams, 280-284 ;
returns to England, 284 ; suc-
cess of his foreign policy, 285 -
280 ; -i-iolentlj' attacked by Pitt,
286, 288, 290, 292; threatened
by ' "Wat Tyler,' 291 ; contiaued
opposition to France, 294 ; dif-
ficulties in his Government,
290 -298 ; misrepresented, ml ;
supported by the King, 502,
304 ; forced to resign, 305 ; be-
comes Earl Granville, 307 ;
attacked again by Pitt, 314 ; re-
appointed Chief Secretary of
State. 319; resigns, 320 ; refiises
Lord-Lieutenancy of Ireland,
327 ; becomes Lord- President
of the Council in Pelham's
Government, 329 ; on Fox,
338 ; his advice before outbreak
of the Seven Years' War, 340 ;
declines to become Prime Minis-
ter, 341 ; negotiates between
Fox and Newcastle, 342 ; takes
Fox's resignation to the King,
345 ; rebukes Fox, 346 ; again
refuses to become Prime Jlinis-
ter, 348 ; secures Pitt to the
Duke of Devonsliire's Govern-
ment, 349 ; on Pitt, 350 ; on
Hardwicke, 354 355 ; on Pitt's

CHA

French negotiations, 356, 358 ;
speech on Pitt's re.signation
falsely assigned to, 359 ; hia
real opinion of Pitt, 360-361 ;
advrjcates war with Spain, 301 ;
failing health, 303 ; quotes
Homer on his death-bed, 364 ;
death, 365 ; happy private life,
360 ; marriages of his daughtei s,
371-372 ; letter on his first
wife's death, 373 ; story of his
second marriage, 378-384 : Lis
parhamentaiw oratory, 385-38fi ;
his idiomatic private talk, 380-
387 ; conversational powers,
387-388 ; his good-hmnour,
389-391 ; high spirit and cou-
rage, 392-393 ; painstakiug,
394; carelessness of popularity,
394 ; neglect of usual parlia-
mentary methods, 395-396 ; in-
difference to money, 397 : par-
liamentary weakness, 398 400 ;
poUtical knowledge, id. ; lin-
guistic knowledge, 401 : classi-
cal scholarship, 401-402 : assi-^ts
Bentley, 402-403 ; love of lite-
ratmre, 406 ; intercourse with
Yiiltaire, 407 ; friendship for
Addison, 407-4iJ8 ; and for Gay,
408 ; and for Pope, id. : con-e-
spondence with Swift, 409-411

Catherine, Czarina of Russia, 151,
152

Charles II.. in Jersey, 4-6

Charles VI., Emperor of Ger-
many, 08 -69 ; his disputes with
Spain, 70, 155 ; calls himself
Kmg of Spain, 70 ; surrenders
the title, 149 ; his war with
France, 193 ; refased help by
Walpole, 199 ; accepts English
mediation, 200 ; death, 223

Charles VII., Emperor of Ger-
many, 245 ; appeals to Carteret
for help, 271 ; negotiations with
Carteret, 271-275 ; death, 316

Charles XII.. King of Sweden,
30, 36 ; an exile in Turkey, 37 ;
at Stralsund, id. ; assists the
Jacobites, 37 ; death. 39

Charles. Prince, brother-in-law of
ilaria Theresa, defeated at
Czaslau, 249 ; tries to enter Al-

INDEX

419

CHA

Bace, 203 ; succeeds, 299 ; re-
treats, 301

Charles Emanuel, King of Sar-
dinia, 278 ; secured to Maria
Theresa by Carteret, 279

Chatham, Earl of. See Pitt

Chesterfield, Earl of, 82 ; quoted,
90 ; dismissed by Walpole, 167 ;
opposes Walpole's Spanish
poHcy,210,215; dissatisfied with
thenewGovernment,241; sneers
at Hanover, 260, 285, 289, 292 ;
joins the Pelhams against Car-
teret, 303 ; anger of George II.
wifcli, 308 ; becomes Lord-Lieu-
tenant of Ireland, id. ; his
reform of the Calendar, 310 ;
becomes Secretary of State in
the Pelhams' Government, 324 ;
resigns in disgust, 325 ; on
Carteret, 363 ; on Carteret's
parliamentary eloquence, 385

Choiseul, Duke of, his negotiations
with Pitt, 356-357

Chohnondeley, Earl of, 207

Chotusitz, Battle of, 249

Churchill, John. See Marlborough

ChurohiU, Sarah. See Marlbo-
rough, Duchess of

Cibber, CoUey, his limping verses,
284

Claremont, Newcastle and his
mushrooms at, 311

Clarendon, Earl of, 3 ; in Jersey,
4 ; writing his History there, 6

Clayton, Mrs. See Sundon

Cleland, Colonel, Carteret's kind-
ness to, 406

Cnyphausen, Prussian Slinister at
Stockholm, 53

Cobham, Earl of, 168

Compact, The Family, 358

Compton, Sir Spencer. See "Wil-
mington

ConrUiahulum, The, 353, 357

Cotton, Sir John, 243

Cowper, Lord, becomes Lord
Chancellor, 18

Cowper, Countess. See Carteret,
Lady Georgiana

CraggR, James, Secretary of State,
on Bernsdorf, 35 ; letters of
Carteret to, 42, 49 ; death, 66 ;
on political honesty, 298

FER

Cromwell, opposed by Sir George
Carteret, 6

Cumberland, Duke of, fondness
for war, 252 ; at Aschaffenberg,
266 ; wounded at Dettingen,
284 ; at funeral of George II.,
312 ; beaten at Fontenoy, 316 ;
fi-iendship with Bedford and
Sandwich, 326

Czaslau, Battle of, 249

DARLINGTON, Comitess of, 90;

her superstition, 91 ; supports

Carteret, id.
Delany, Dr., Carteret's friendship

with, 389
Delany, Mrs., on Lady Carteret,371
Dettingen, vdlage of, 267 ; battle

of, 268
Dettingen TeDeam, Handel's, 270
Devonshire, Duke of, attempts to

reconcile Pitt and Fox, 348 ;

Prime Minister, 349
Dodington, Bubb, 89, 290 ; his

Diary quoted, 340, 341
Dorset, Duke of, 144
UnipieT's Letters, Swift's, 103,

111, 117-119
Dubois, Cardinal, 32, 72-73, 77,

89, 92, 94
Dungeness, French fleet at, 295
Duquesne, Fort, Braddock de-
feated at, 339
Dysart, Earl of, marries Lady

Grace Carteret, 371

EDGECUMBE, Lord, IGl
Elizabeth Famese, Queen of

Spain, 69 ; her disputes with

Charles VI., 70-71 ; her anger

with France, 149
Eugene, Prince, 196
Excise, Walpole's scheme of, 165 ;

defeated, 167

FALKIEK, Battle of, 318
Fermor, Lady Charlotte, 384, n.
Fermor, Lady Sophia, 375 ; Ho-
race AValpole and, 376 ; Lord
Lincoln and, id. ; her beauty
and London successes, 377 ;

i-20

LOBD CAIiTEBET

FLE

marriage to Carteret, 378 38'2 ;
her great popularity, 382-383 ;
death, 384

FlevuT, Cardinal, Pope on, 151 ;
di-pnte with Charles YI., 153,
l.jlj ; supports Stanislaus as
King of Poland, 191; Carteret
on 21 D : secures Lorraine for
France, 225 ; -niites to Frederick
the Great on Carteret, 246

Fontenoy. Battle of, 31C

Fox, HeniT, conversation with
Carteret on the Irish Parlia-
ment, 131 ; joins Pelham's Go-
vernment, 309 ; appointed
Secretary of State, 335 ; resigns
next day, 336 ; attacks Sir
Thomas Eobinson, 337 ; joms
Newcastle's Government, 388 :
Cartei'et's compliment to, id. ;
Serretary of State again, 342 ;
ill-treated, and resigns, 344 ;
anger of George II. vrAh, 345-
340 ; Carteret's rebuke to, 340 ;
attempts to form a Government
with AValdegrave, 352 ; bribed
to secure majority for Peace of
Paris, 362; secret marriagt with
Lady Caroline Lennox, 382

Francis, Grand Duke, husband of
Maria Theresa, 245

Frederick the Great, seen by his
grandfather, George I.. 86 ; ac-
cession of, 223 : invades Silesia,
228-229 ; gains battle of JIoll-
witz, 230 ; makes treaty with
France, 232 ; makes peace with
Maria Theresa, 233 ; attacks
her again, 245 ; failure, 245-
246 ; gains battle of Czaslau,
249 ; accepts peace on Carteret's
mediation, 250 ; compliments
Carteret, id. ; on Carteret's
German policy, 274 ; early
failures in second Silesian war,
300-301 ; gains Silesia again,
316 ; subsidised by England in
Seven Years' "War, 353 ; de-
serted by England, 3C2

Frederick, Prince of \Yale8, his
quarrel with George II., 177 :
arrival in England, id. ; joins
the opposition, 178 : marriage
of, 179 ; brings his affairs before

ParUament, 180-181 ; renewed
quarrel with the King and
Queen, 185-186 ; Lord Shel-
bume on, 188 ; death, 328

Frederick William, King of Prus-
sia, his fitful friendship with
George I., 30 ; joins the aUiance
against Charles XII., 37 ; ac-
cepts English mediation, 40;
his demands on Sweden, 47 ;
his economics, 55 ; makes peace
with Sweden, 56 ; visits George
I. at Hanover, 84 ; audience of
Carteret mth, id. ; accepts the
Treaty of Hanover, 150 ; leaves
it, 152 ; his opinion of George
II., 177 ; death, 222

Friend, Piobert, head-master of
Westminster School, 14

GAY, his Beggar's Ox>era, 408 ;
friendshijj of Carteret for, id.

Germaine, Lady Betty, 17

German, small knowledge of, in
England under the German
Kings, 88, 404 ; Carteret's
knowledge of, 88 ; letter in, by
Carteret, 405

George I., reception in England,
20 ; his quaiTel with the Prince
of Wales, 34 ; dislike of Wal-
pole, 82 ; favour for Carteret,
82, 88, 101 ; visit to Berlin,
85-80 ; makes Treatv" of Han-
over, 150 ; death, 152

George II., his language about his
ministers, 157 ; and about the
bishops, 100 ; his quarrel with
the Prince of Wales, 177,
185-186 ; fondness for war,
195 ; unable to helj) jNIaria
Theresa, 281 ; on Walpole, 237 ;
conversation with Pulteney,
239 ; makes second attempt to
help ^Maria Theresa, 254 ; fails,
256; makes third attempt, 261 ;
joins his army, 265 : gains
battle of Dettingen, 208 ; on
Frederick the Great, 301 ; dis-
likes the Pelhams, 302, 308
supports Carteret, 302, 304
treads on Newcastle's toe, 311
disgust with the Pelhams' Go

INDEX

421

veniment, 317 ; sends the seals
to I'arteret, 319 ; forced to ac
cept the Pelhams agam, 3'20
calls Newcastle a fool, 3'2'i
obliged to admit Pitt to office,
322-3'23 ; hates his ministers,
324 ; his Hanover subsidies,
340-341; his anger with Fox,
845-346; and with Pitt, 348,
350 ; and with Temple, 350
orders Pitt to resign, id. ; ac
cepts Newcastle and his 'foot
men,' 352 ; death, 355

George III., on the Carteret
family, 2 ; accession of, 355

Clibbon, at school, 323 ; Carteret
on, 407

Gibraltar, proposed, cession of, to
Sp.-iin, 73-74 ; cession refused
by Carteret, 77 ; cession of, de-
manded by Spam and refused,
151 ; siege of, 151, 153 ; Spanish
claim dropped, 154

Glover, Kichard, 244

Godolphiu, Lord, 18, 19, 20

G^odwin, William, quoted, 305-806

Cloethe, 3(13

Gortz, Baron, 37; plots with the
Jacobites, 38 ; executed, 39

Grafton, Duke of, Lord-Lieutenant
of Ireland, 100; alarmed by
Wood's jiatent, 105; annoys and
irritates Walpole, 106-108 ; \\-a\-
pole's angry letter to, 108-109 ;
joins Pclliam's Government, 309

Clrainniont, Duke of, his mistake
at the battle of Dettmgen, 268

(h'anville. Family of, 1, 10

Granville, Sir Bevil, killed at
Lansdowne, 12

Crranville, Lady Elizabeth, 374

Ciranville, George, Lord Lans-
downe, 20

Gra]iviUe, Grace, Countess Gran-
ville, 13, 3li7 ; created Vis-
countess Carteret and Coimtess
Granville, 25 : her fi-iendship
with Swift, 367-308 ; her im-
petuous wavs, 368-369; letter
to Carteret, 370 ; death, 307, 367

GKANVILLE, Earl, Lord Car-
teret. See Carteret.

Granville, Su- John, Earl of Bath
and Baron Granville, 12 ; pro-

claims Charles II. in the Scilly
Islands, id. ; confidential nego-
tiations during the Restoration,
13

Grau'i'ille, Sir Bichard, his fight
against the Spanish fleet, 11 12

GranvOle, Robert, second Earl of,
death, 385

Granville, Lady Sophia Fermor,
Countess of. See Fermor

Grenville, Bichard, Earl Temple,
197 ; on Pitt, 259

HANAU, Carteret's negotiations
at, 273-275 ; Khevenhtiller at,
293 ; Carteret's toast at, id.

Handel, his Dettingen Te Deum,
270

Hanover, anxiety of George II.
for, 229 ; hinders George from
helping Maria Theresa, 231 ;
neutrality of, 232 ; attacks on,
in Parliament, 259-261, 285,
288 -292 ; subsidies for, refused
by Pitt and Legge, 341

Planover, Treaty of, 150

Hardwicke, Lord Chancellor,
draws up Memorial against
Carteret, 303; inter\iews with
George II., 804, 313; Carteret
on, 354-355

Harley, Edward, Earl of Oxford,15

Harley, Bobert, Earl of Oxford,
joins Godolphin's Government,
18 ; nickname of, 19 ; forced to
resign, id. ; retm^ls to power,
20; rivahy with Bolingbroke, 25

Harrington, Earl of, 74 ; makes
treaty of Seville, 154 ; rudely
resigns office, 318 ; resumes
office, 320 ; anger of George II.
with, 322 ; Lord-Lieutenant of
Ireland, 324

Hatton, Lord, 15

Hawke, Admiral, 339, 840

Hawley, General, defeated at Fal-
kirk, 318

HerA-ey^ Lord, at Westminster
School, 14 ; on Walpole and
Pultenev, 160 ; quotes ^^'alpole
on Carteret, 168, 183 ; on Car-
teret, 172 ; conversation with
Carteret, 176 ; on ^Valpole's

422

LOBD CABTEBET

HES

falsehood about Carteret, 188 ;
dismissed from the Government,
241 ; on Newcastle, 309 ; anec-
dote of Carteret by, 390

Hesse, Prince WQHam of, nego-
tiates with Carteret on behalf of
the Emperor, 271-275 ; his mis-
conception of Carteret, 276

Hessen-Cassel, Prince of. King of
Sweden, his friendship with
Carteret, 40, 49

Hill, Abigail, supports Harley, 19,
20

Homer, quotation from, by Car-
teret, 364

Howard, Lord Thomas, 11

Hutcheson, Francis, his friendship
with Carteret, 406

Hyde, Edward. See Clarendon

Hyndford, Lord, ambassador at
Berlin, tries to reconcile Frede-
rick with Maria Theresa, 282 ;
arranges Treaty of Breslau,
250

IPiELAXD, Carteret becomes
Lord-Lieutenant of, 101 ; the
copper coinage of, and \Yood's
Patent, 103-128 ; Primate
Boulter's policy towards, 129 ;
Swift on English government
of, 131 ; quietness of, during
Carteret's Lord-Lieutenancy, id.

JACOBITES, the, 23; BoUng-
broke and, id.

Jersey, home of the Carterets in,
1 ; defended by them against
the French, 2 ; Cliarles II. in,
4 ; Cromwell's attack on, 6, 7

Jenkins, Piobert, the storv of his
ear, 206, 212

Johnson, Dr., 212 ; his anecdote
of Dr. John Tavlor, 403-404

Wood's Irish coinage, 104, 108,

112
Khevenhiiller, General, recovers

Linz, 245 ; successes of, 251 ;

visits George II. at Hanau, 293
King, Dr. William, Archbishop of

Dublin, on Carteret and Wood's

coinage, 119-121 ; his action in

the Irish ParHament, 128 ; his

friendjhip with Lady Carteret,

371
KleinschneUendorf, Treaty of, 233;

cancelled, 24.5
Knipe, Dr. Thomas, head-master

of Westminster School, 14

LANSDOWXE, Battle of, 12

Lansdowne, Lord. See Granville,
George

Lansdowne, First Marquis of. See
Shelbume

Layer, his Jacobite plot, 79

Legge, Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, refuses subsidy for
Hanover, 341 ; dismissed, 342

Lennox, Lady Caroline, Henry
Fox's secret marriage with, .362

Leonidas, Kichard Glover's, 244

Lewenohr, Danish ambassador to
Sweden, 58-60

Lexden Heath, camp on, 252

Lincoln, Lord, his fancy for Lady
Sophia Fermor, .570, B76

Longleat, Carteret's marriage at,
17, .371

Lorraine,conqueredbyFrance,193;
secured to France by treaty, 200

Louis XV., w ithdraws his troops
fi'om Germany, 293 ; his cam-
paign in Flanders and illness at
Metz, 209

Lyttelton, Lord, his first session
in ParUament, 197 : joins the
Pelhams against Carteret. 303

Lytton, Lord, on Carteret, iii., 406

KEXDAL, Duchess of, 82; Horace
Walpole's description of, 90-91 ;
her influence with Creorge I.,
91 ; supports Walpole and
Townshend, 91. '■)-; her ava-
rice, 91, 103 ; bribed to support

MAHOX, Port, attacked by the

French, 343
Maillebois, goes to relief of French

in Prag, 2.54
Mansfield, Lord, at Westminster

School, 14 ; first speech in Par-

INDEX

■i'2S

MAR

liament, 2C0 ; uninterested in
politics, 384 ; declines to remain
in Parliament, 544; on Carteret's
fine temper, 390
Marchmont, Earl of, English am-
bassador to Denmark, 57-58,
60 ; on Carteret, George I., and
the Duchess of Kendal, 82 ; on
Walpole and the Spanish ques-
tion, 211 ; on Harrington's rude-
ness to George II., 318 ; on
Pulteney and Lord Carlisle, 320 ;
letter from Carteret to, 219 ;
conversation with Chesterfield,
324 ; dismissed by "Walpole,
168
Maria Theresa, accession of, 228 ;
defeated at MoUwitz, 230 ; sub-
sidised by England, 231 ; ap-
peals to Huni;iay, 232 ; makes
peace with Frederick, 283 ; at-
tacked by Frederick, 245 ; sur-
renders Silesia and makes peace,
250 ; not very grateful to Eng-
land, 263 ; makes treaty with
Sardinia, 279 ; again attacked
by Frederick, 300-801 ; forced
again to yield Silesia, 316

Marlborough, Duchess of, 19 ; on
Carteret, 226

Marlborough, Duke of, his connec-
tion with political parties, 18 ;
refuses to act with Harley, 19 ;
dismissed, 68

Masham, Mrs. See HiU

Melcombe, Lord. See Dodington

Messina, Spanish fleet destroyed
at, 71

Midleton, Lord, Lord Chancellor
of Ireland, 105 ; anger of George
I. with, 112-113; conversation
with Carteret on the Drapier's
Letters, 119 ; on Carteret's ditii-
culties in Ireland, 127 ; Parha-
mentary conduct of, 128

Minorca, capture of, by Stanhope,
22 ; taken by the French, 343

MoUwitz, Battle of, 230

Moravia, failure of Frederick the
Great's expedition in, 245

Motion, the, 227-228, n.

Movie, General, his conduct during
the Porteous riots, 171

Murray, WiUiam. See Mansfield

ORF

NEAVCASTLE, Duke of, 07,68;
his early treachery to Carteret,
114 ; bullied by Queen Carolme,
175 ; on Carteret, 188 ; attempts
to intrigue with Pulteney, 238 ;
his jealousy of Carteret, 258 ;
interferes mth Carteret's Ger-
man policy, 275 ; plots against
Carteret, 283, 296-298 ; dishked
by George II., 302 ; presents
Memorial against Carteret, 303 ;
triunrphs over him, 305 ; cha-
racter of, 309-318; supported
by Pitt, 313-314; George II.
disgusted with, 317 ; resigns,
818 ; returns to power, 320 ;
quarrels with his brother, 824 ;
plots against Duke of Bedford,
826; tries to gam over Carteret,
327 ; sad condition of, 327- 328 ;
becomes Prime Minister, 833 ;
slinks out of his engagement
with Fox, 386 ; negotiates with
Fox, 388 ; his absurdity as Prime
Minister, 339 ; appeals for help
to Carteret, 841 ; forms union
with Fox, 342 ; abandoned by
Murray and Fox, 344 ; distress
of, 347 ; again implores Carteret
to become Prime Jlinister, 348 ;
at last resigns, /(/. ; tries to form
a new Government with Pitt,
351 ; intrigues against A\'alde-
grave and I'ox, 352 ; Prime
Minister again, 353 ; resigns,
361 ; his absurdity on I'ox's
secret marriage, oH3 ; and on
Lady Granville's receptions, id.

Newton, Sir Isaac, Master of the
Mint, 110

NoaUles, will not fight Stair, 205 ;
his plans for defeating the Eng-
lish alhes, 267

Norris, Admiral, 37. 41, 44, 47-49 ;
sails to Stockholm to support
Sweden, 49 ; sails to meet the
French at Dungeness, 295

Nugent, Earl, arranges private
meeting between Carteret and
Pelham, 329-330

OEFOKD, First Earl of. SceWal-
pole. Sir Robert

4-24

LOBD CAETEBET

ORP

Orford, Second Earl of. See Wal-

pole, Horace
Orleans, Doke of, Regent of France,

31 ; his desire for an English

alliance, id. ; death, 100
Osnabriick, death of George I. at,

152
Oxford, Earl of. Bee Harley

PAEIS, Peace of, 362; opposed
by Pitt, 8G8

Pelham, Henry, jealous of Car-
teret, 2.j8 ; becomes Prime
Minister, 281 ; anxious to get
rid of Carteret, 283 ; disliked
by George II., 302 ; triumphs
over Carteret, 305 ; supported
by Pitt, 313-314; foUows Car-
teret's measiu:es, 315 ; George
II. disgusted mth, 317 ; resigns,
319 ; returns to power, 321
quarrels with his brother, 324
miserable state of his ministry,
327-328 ; private intendew with
Carteret, 329-330 ; his dread of
Carteret, 331 ; death, 333

Pelham, Thomas HoUes. See
Newcastle

Pepys, 3 ; friendship with Sir
George Carteret, 7-8 ; his ac-
coimt of Sir Philip Carteret's
marriage, 8-10

Peter the Great, 30 ; attacks
Sweden, 36, 43-44; Carteret's
Swedish policy towards, 49 ;
refuses EngHeh mediation, 57

Peterborough, Earl of, C8

PhOipsburg, Siege of, 193, 196

Pitt, T\'LUiam, member for Old
SaiTun, 197 ; dismissed by Wal-
pole, 179 ; attacks Walpole's
Spanish policy, 217 ; attacks
Carteret's Government, 259 ;
violent Parhamentary invective
against Carteret, 280. 288. 290,
292, 314 ; his early poUtical
career, 287 ; on Carteret, 244 ;
joins the Pelhams against Car-
teret, 303, 307 ; refused olfice
Ijy the King, 308 ; and again,
."17 ; calls Newcastle a liar,
310; supports Newcastle's Go-
vernment, 31.3- 315 ; his mcon-

PRI

sistency, 315; joinsthe Pelhams'
Government, 323 ; depressed by
the King's dislike, 334 335 ;
attacks the Government of
which he is a member, 337 ;
dismissed, 342 ; George 11. on,
345 ; refuses to join Newcastle's
Government, 347 ; wiU not act
with Fox. 348 ; becomes Secre-
tary of State in the Duke of
Devonshire's Government, 349 ;
ordered by George II. to resign,
350 ; negotiates with Newcastle,
351 ; becomes Secretary of
State in Newcastle's Govern-
ment, 353 ; on their harmo-
nious Cabinet meetings, 354 ;
opposed by George III. and
Bute, 356 ; his negotiations
approved by Carteret, 350 ; re-
fiises Spanish mediation be-
. tween England and France,

357 ; proposes war with Spain,

358 ; resigns, 359 ; Carteret's
■view of, 360-361 ; accepts a
pension, 3G2 ; opposes the Peace
of Paris, 363 ; his tribute to
Carteret, 391

Polwarth, Lord, aj)pointed to

Cambrai Congress, 78. See

INIarchmont
Pomfiret, Lady, in Florence. 375 ;

warns Horace Walpole off, 376 ;

Horace AValpole on, id.
Pope, Alexander. 14. 20. 151 ;

anecdote of Cai-teret and, 408-

409
Porteous, Captain, execution of,

170
Porteous Riots, 170-171 ; parlia-

mentarv action regarding, 172-

176
Porto-Bello, taken by Admu'al

Vernon, 222
Poyntz, Stephen, 153
Prag, taken by the French, 245 ;

siege of French in, 251 ; their

escape from, 264 ; taken and

abandoned by Frederick the

Great, 301
Pragmatic Sanction, I'.O. 149, 153,

156-157, 191-192. 200, 223,

229
Prior, Matthew, at Westminster

INDEX

425

PRO

School, 14 ; his acquaintance
with Carteret, 17

Protestant Succession, question of

- the, 2-2-23

Prynne, William, imprisoned in
.Tersey, 2 ; befriended by the
Carte'rets, 2-3

Pulteney, WiUiam, educated at
Westminster, 14 ; on European
treaties, luG ; in \\'alpole's
Government, 160; joins the
opposition to Walpole, id. ;
attacks Walpole's Spanish po-
licy, 205-207 ; secedes from
Parliament, 218 ; severe on
Walpole, 221 ; accepts Wal-
pole's parliamentary challenge.
23() ; defeated by majority of
three, 237 ; declines secret un-
derstanding with Newcastle,
23H ; conversation of George II.
with, 289 ; proposed as Prime
Minister, 240; joins the new
Government, 241 ; upset bj'the
crisis, 244 ; unpopularity of,
257, 281 ; advises George II.
against Pitt, 318 ; made Fii-st
Lord of the Treasury, 319 ; sud-
denly resigns, id.

Pultowa, Battle of, 37

' REVENGE,' fight of the, against
the Spanish fleet, 11

Eichmond, Didie of, his M8S.
quoted, 317

Eiot Act- passed, 20

Eipperda, influence of, with the
Queen of Spain, 148 ; his secret
negotiations with Germany,
148-149 ; hisplottings with the
Stuart Pretender, 150

Eobethon, Secretary of George I.,
26, 34

Eobinson, Sir Thomas, ambas-
sador at Vienna, attempts to
reconcile Mai-ia Theresa with
Frederick, 231 ; made Secretary
of State and Leader of the
House of Commons, 337 ; re-
moved, 342

SACHEVEEELL, Dr., his ser-

SOP

mons, 19 ; prosecution of, -20 ;
preaches before Parliament, 23

St. John. See Bohngbroke

Sandwich, Earl of, drowned, 10

Sandys, Samuel, becomes Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, 241

Saxe, Marshal, preparing to in-
vade England, 295 ; gains the
battle of Fontenoy, 316

Sehaub, Sir Lulce, English am-
bassador at Paris, 73, 78, 92 ;
^Valpole's suspicion of, 92 ; up-
holds Carteret's influence at
Paris, 93 ; ^\'al2)ole's plot to
remove, 94 ; plotted against by
Horatio Walpole at Paris, 9s
100 ; recalled, 100

Schism Act, repeal of, 22

Selwyn, George, 312, 367

Septennial Act, passed, 27-28

Settlement, Act of, 23

Seven Years' War, opening of,
348

Seville, Treaty of, 154

Shelburne, Lord, on Smiderland,
21-22 ; conversation with Pul-
teney, -244 ; quotes Carteret's
pohtical advice, 340 ; on the
Prince of ^\'ales, 188 ; on Car-
teret and Pitt as letter-writers,
269 ; on the Go\ ernment during
the Seven Years' War, 354 ; on
Carteret's last illness, 865 ; on
Carteret's parliamentary elo-
quence, 386 ; on Carteret's taUs:,
888 ; on Carteret's carelessness
about money, 397 ; marries
Carteret's daughter, 884

Sheridan, Dr., his friendship with
Swift and Carteret, 141 ; his
absent-mmdedness, 142

Sherlock, Bishop, 174, 176

Shippen, William, 161

Shrewsbury', Duke of, made Lord
Treasurer, 25

Silesia, mvaded by Frederick, 228;
surrendered to him, 250 ; agam
surrendered, 816

Smollett, Tobias, 222

Soissons, Congress of, 153

Sophia Charlotte, First Queen of
Prussia, 85

Sophia Dorothea, Queen of Prus-
sia, daughter of George I., de-

FF

426

LORD CARTERET

SOP

sires a double marriage between
England and Prussia, 83 ;
visited by George I. at Berlin,
85-86

Sophocles, Carteret's intimate
knowledge of works of, 142

South Sea Bubble, 65

South Sea Company, its trade
with America, 20'2. 214

Southwold Bay, battle of, 10

Spain, English dispute with, 202-
220 ; war with, 220 ; Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle with, 325

Stair, Earl of, English ambassa-
dor at Paris, 31 ; interview -with
Queen Caroline, 165-166 ; on
Walpole, 211 ; quoted, 226 ;
negotiations of, at the Hague,
248, 252 ; disgusted with the
Dutch, 253 ; correspondence
with Carteret, 261-202: marches
into Germany, 203 : halts at
Aschaffenberg, 205 ; resigns
after battle of Dettingen. 270 :
becomes commander of the
home forces, 296

Stanhope, General, Earl of, cap-
tures Minorca, 22 ; character of,
id. ; repeals Schism Act, id. ;
his religious toleration, id. ;
arranges treaty ■n-ith France,
32; opposesWalpole and To^Mif-
hend, 34, 36 ; appoints Carteret
ambassador to Sweden, 30 ;
death, 66

Stanhope, Philip Dormer. See
Chesterfield

Stanhope, WiUiam. See Harring-
ton

Stanislaus Leczinski, 191 ; re-
chosen King of Poland, 192 :
flight from Warsaw. 193

Steele, Richard, expelled from the
House of Commons, 24 ; remark
of Carteret on, 387-3^8

Stella, Swift's Journal to, 17

Sterne, Lawrence, at siege of
Gibraltar, 151

Sunderland, Lord, becomes Secre-
tary of State, 18 ; dismiased,
20-21 ; his passionate temper,
21-22 ; Lord-Lieutenant of Ire-
land, 29 : intrigues at Hanover
against 'V\'alpole and Towns-

TOW

hend, 33 ; resigns, 66 ; Car-
teret's friendship for, 392

Sundon, Lady, 183

Sweden, joins Jacobites against
England, 37 ; ruinous condition
of, 40-41 ; yields Bremen and
Verden to George L, 42; Car-
teret's mission in, 40-61

Swift, Dean, on Carteret's learn-
ing, 16 ; early friendship with
Carteret, 16-17 ; friendship with
BoHngbroke, 20 ; his Public
Spirit of the Tiliigs, 24 ;
opposes Wood's patent, 104 ;
attacks Wood's patent in the
Drapier's Letters, 111 ; hopes
for Carteret's help against the
patent. 116; on Carteret, life;
publishes the Drapier's fourth
Letter, 117: proclamation
against, 120; strange scene with
Carteret, 120-121 ; manifestoes
by, 123 ; on Enghsh govern-
ment of Ireland, 130 : his Vin-
dication of Lord Carteret, 132 ;
correspondence with Carteret,
133-137, 409-411; his friend-
ship with Lady Carteret, 137-
188 ; and with Lady Worsley,
138-141 ; renewed friendship
with Carteret in Ireland, 141-
145 : on Walpole, 233 ; dedi-
cates a poem to Carteret, 366 ;
his friendship with Countess
GranvUle, 367-368: on Lady
Carteret's beauty. 371 ; story
of, by Carteret, 389 : on Car-
teret's scholarship, 401

TATLOE, Dr. John, anecdote of,
403 ; assisted by Caiteret. 404

Temple. Earl, abused by Georce
II., 345, 350; supports Pitt's
desfre for war with Spain, 359

Tennyson, quoted, 11

Townsheud, Lord, 21. 29 ; dis-
missed from the Government,
36 ; retiurns to office, 66 ; in-
trigues at Hanover against
Carteret, 82. 87. 94-98; Car-
teret's relations with, 102;
Walpole's quarrel with, 159 :
gives up political life, id.

INDEX

427

TEE

Trevor, Mr., ambassador at the

Hague, 252
Triennial Act, repealed, 27-28
Tyrawley, Lord, English ambas-
sador to Knssia, letters from
and to Carteret, 381-382

ULEIQUE ELEANOBA, Queen

of Sweden, 39 ; desires peace
with England, id. ; receives
Carteret at Stockholm, 40

VERDEN, acquired by George I.,
37 ; formally yielded by Sweden,
51, 52

Vernon, Admiral, takes Porto-
Bello, 222 ; fails at Cartagena,
234

Vienna, Treaty of, 149 ; second
Treaty of, 156 ; third Treaty of,
200

ViUars, Marshal, 193

A'oltaire, anecdote of Swift by,
130 ; at Cambrai during the
Congress, 147 ; friendship with
Lady Sundon in England,
183 ; in England, 407 ; sends
Carteret his Henriade, id.

WADE, Marshal, commands Eng-
lish troops in Flanders, 299 ;
incapacity of, 300

AValdegrave, Lord, on George II,,
302 ; on Newcastle, 311 ; ne-
gotiates between Newcastle and
Fox, 338 ; quoted, 339 ; attempts
to form a Government with
Fox, 351 ; encouraged by Car-
teret, 351 352 ; fails, 352

Walpole, Dorothy, 159

Walpole, Horace, 226 ; on Sir
Robert AValpole, 234, 236 ; on
Frederick the Great, 248 ;
quoted, 255, 284 ; on battle of
Dettingen, 270 ; supports Car-
teret in Parliament, 291 ; on
Newcastle, 305, 312 ; on Car-
teret and the PeUiams, 307,
330 ; on Carteret's three days'
ministry, 320 ; describes Car-
teret's negotiations between the

WAL

King; Fox, and Newcastle, 345 ;
anecdote of Carteret and Fox
by, 346 ; his fancy for Lady
Sophia Fermor, 3'76; his ac-
count of Carteret's second mar-
riage, 378- 381 ; and of Countess
Granville's death, 384 ; on
Carteret's parliamentary elo-
quence, 386

Walpole, Horatio, 32, 34, 35;
appointed to intrigue against
Carteret in Paris, 95 ; his am-
biguous position there, 98 ; his
final success, 100 ; at the
Soissons Congress, 153 ; nego-
tiates at the Hague, 196

Walpole, Sir Robert, becomes
Secretary at War, 19 ; one of
the Whig leaders, 21 ; on Sun-
derland's temper, 22 ; Sunder-
land's intrigues against, 33, 35 ;
resigns, 36; returns to power,
G6 ; his dread of able colleagues,
67 ; his character and parlia-
mentary aims, 80-81 ; his
jealousy of Carteret, 81 ; in-
trigues against him, 82 ; secures
his dismissal, 100 ; irritated
by Grafton's conduct in Ire-
land, 106-108 ; upholds Wood's
patent, id. ; reduces its amount,
110 ; wishes Carteret to go to
Ireland, 114 ; forced to sur-
render the patent, 128 ; mediates
between Charles VI. and Spain,
155 ; disliked by George II.,
157 ; brief loss of power, 158 ;
determination to get rid of Car-
teret, 162-163 ; his Excise
scheme, 165 ; its failure, 167 ;
will never work with Carteret,
182-183 ; his falsehood about
Carteret, 187-188; his foreign
policy, 190, 196 ; refuses to help
the Emperor, 199 ; mediates
for him, 200 ; his Spanish pohcy,
205, 207 ; its failure, 209 ; de-
clares war rather than resign,
220 ; increasing opposition to,
221, 223 ; his apparent parlia-
mentary success, 227 ; unpo-
pular in the comitry, 233-234 ;
his parliamentary challenge to
Pulteney, 236 ; end of his par-

428

LOBD CABTEBET

liamentary majority, id. ; re-
signs, 237 ; becomes Earl of
Orford, id. ; alarmed for his
personal safety, 239 ; negotiate 3
with Carteret and Pultenej',
240 ; on the battle of Dettingen,
270; encourages the Pelhams
against Carteret, 261-283 ; sup-
ports Carteret's policy regarding
Hanoverian troops, 291 ; ad-
vises George II. to dismiss
Carteret, 305 ; on Newcastle, 310

Walpoliana, anecdote from, Bn,n.

Washington, George, his first
historical appearance, 338

Westminster School, famous
scholars of, 14

Weymouth, Viscount, marries
Lady Louisa Carteret, 571

Wharton, Duke of, 24

Whitworth, English ambassador
at Berlin, 54 ; appointed to
Cambrai Congress, 78

WUles, Lord Chief Justice, anec-
dote of Carteret by, 396

WiUiams, Sir C. H., on Pulteney,
257, n.

YOE

Wilmington, Lord, brief power
of, 158, 161; Prime ilinister,
240 ; death, 280

Wood, his coinage patent, 104 ;
abused by Swift, id. ; his patent
much reduced, 110 ; and finally
canceDed, 128

^S'orms, Treaty of, 279

Worsley, Lady, her intimacy with
Swift, 137 ; correspondence
with Swift, 138-141 ; verse of
Pope on, 370

Wusterhausen, Treaty of, 152

Wyndham, Sir WiUiam, leads the
Hanoverian Tories.161 : secedes
from Parliament, 218 ; on Wal-
pole's Spanish policy. 221

YAEMOUTH, Countess of,255.».:
on Xewcastle, 310

Tester, seat of Marquis of Tweed-
dale, 374

Yorke, Hon. Philip, his Parlia-
mentary Journal, 285, n.: on
Pitt, 287 : on Carteret, 280

rRIXTED EY

sronibwoODE AKD CO., NKW-STREKI ^QUATlE

LONDON"

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